Homeowners and new buyers applied for almost 564,000 mortgages through members of the HDN network in 2025, up some 12% on 2024, the agency said on Tuesday.
Pensioners looking to move, get a cheaper mortgage or increase their borrowing accounted for a larger share of the applications, as did people looking to move up the housing ladder, HDN said. Applications to buy a home accounted for 61% of the total.
The number of first-time buyers actually fell 3.4% to 172,000, HDN said, accounting for just under half of purchases. In December, the land registry office said first-time buyers accounted for 42% of house purchases in 2025.
The average property value in 2025 was up 4.9% on the previous year, when values had risen 9.6%, the organisation said.
The levelling off is visible across the entire market and is probably down to the fact landlords are selling their cheaper properties. “That depresses average property values,” a spokesman told news website Nu.nl.
“2025 illustrates how wide the gap in the housing market has become,” director Reinier van der Heijden said.
“First-time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to spot an affordable home and they have to max out financially. But people moving up the property ladder and pensioners are using their housing assets more actively.”
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