International investors spend €4.2 billion in Dutch residential market last year

The proportion of residential market as part of the entire market has risen considerably – up from 35% in 2018. Approximately 90% of the international transaction volume involved pension fund capital.

Progression on stock within the Dutch housing market has stalled somewhat due to lack of suitable sites. Housing associations and investors are increasingly willing to invest in healthcare and senior accommodation. A record amount of €1.25 billion was invested in healthcare and senior homes, as well as in healthcare real estate, in 2019. Healthcare real estate investors have a minimum of €3.4 billion available for investment in healthcare real estate over the next three years. Housing associations want to invest more in this sector, which will allow this market and the number of suitable senior homes to grow in the next few years.

There is also a lack of suitable supply for those entering the owner-occupied market. In the next five years, an additional 114,000 new owner-occupied properties must be built for this target market. To ensure these properties are within reach for this target group, the government could once again offer subsidies for the segment of the population with a borrowing capacity of up to €250,000.

Marijn Snijders, Director Capital Value, explains:

“Increasingly more international investors are prepared to invest in new-build homes. This is important because together with Dutch institutional investors, they can contribute to reducing the housing shortage. They are able to purchase larger projects than Dutch investors. They also bring knowledge from other housing markets or for specific targets groups, such as for students or seniors. We expect that more new-build projects will be sold to foreign pension funds in 2020.”

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