"Market for recreational homes is booming"

Market for recreational homes is booming

Source: NVM

"Holiday homes remain hugely popular. Not only as a place where you can escape the delusion of the day and unwind, but certainly now that the money in savings accounts is actually barely yielding a return, the vacation home can be a very good investment," said Marc Vervoort, project manager at NVM, about developments in the market for recreational homes.

For the sixth consecutive year, NVM has conducted research into the Dutch market for recreational homes. The report can now be downloaded from the NVM website and is full of numerical trends and developments.

NVM's definition is 'the recreational home is a second home for recreational purposes, which in appearance is similar to regular housing (no mobile homes or garden houses). The recreational home can be intended for personal use, but also as an investment(rental) or a mix of both'.

Marc: "When you look at the market, it is striking that in a small country like the Netherlands there are still big differences between regions. The east of our country is characterized by low prices, while in Zeeland and the coastal regions in particular, prices are rising rapidly."

"The number of recreational homes sold in the Netherlands increased by 4.8 percent in 2018 compared to 2017, reaching nearly 4,600 homes. Since the start of data collection in 2004, this is by far the highest number of sales. In doing so, we do see that the strong increase is slipping somewhat, and that the price increase is also leveling off on average. The average selling price of a holiday home in the Netherlands is €147,600. This is only half a percent higher than in 2017. The biggest increases in the market in terms of number of transactions and prices now seem to be over. This picture is similar to developments in the regular owner-occupied housing market in the Netherlands. "

More space
"Holiday homes are often detached houses, on bungalows on a piece of land. The average house size is 70 m2, on an average plot of about 425 m2. By comparison, a regular home sold in 2018 was 115 m2 in size, on a plot of 'only' 134 m2. Two-thirds of the recreational homes homes sold are between 50 and 100 meters in size. Meanwhile, 1 in 5 homes sold is larger than 100 meters, 15 years ago it was only 1 in 8 homes. So the average recreation home sold is getting bigger."

More expensive segment continues to grow
Over the past 15 years, the more expensive segment (>€200,000) occupies an increasing share of the total number of sales. "There is no slow shift of homes to a more expensive price range. On the contrary, a top luxury segment of spacious and more expensive recreational homes in sought-after locations is emerging. That there is demand for this is shown by the increasing share. In 2004 it was still 16%, but now already 27% of the recreational homes sold are in the more expensive segment. Of these, 56% have a selling price between €250,000 and €500,000. 11% even have a price of more than €500,000."

Zeeland striking market
On January 1, 2018, the average asking price stood at 185 thousand euros. On January 1, 2019, the average asking price of recreational homes offered by NVM brokers in the Netherlands was over €234,000. An increase of no less than 27%. This year's huge increase can be explained by developments in the Zeeland region. "In terms of recreational housing supply, this is the second largest region in the Netherlands; therefore, Zeeland has a relatively large impact on the Dutch average. The asking prices in this region have increased tremendously this year, but also last year. This has to do with the type of homes on offer. The average asking price here is skyrocketing. As of January 1, 2019, the asking price exceeds €700,000."

"In Zeeland, the recreational housing supply has increased very strongly (+44%). There are almost 340 homes for sale by NVM brokers. In Zeeland at the beginning of this year, 2 out of 3 of the recreational homes on offer were new-build homes. For the Netherlands as a whole, this was only 1 in 5. Of the total new construction offer in the Netherlands, 45% is in Zeeland. Part of this new construction offer concerns two large new construction parks on the Veerse Meer/Kamperland with prices ranging from € 600,000 to well over a million. The houses are suitable for permanent residence. Prices are strongly influenced by these houses. In the rest of Zeeland there is also a lot of relatively expensive new construction."

Wonderful place and interesting investment
A recreational home is not only a wonderful place for yourself, but sometimes also to rent out to others. Increasingly, the second home is therefore seen as an investment. Marc Vervoort: "Especially in the price range between 250,000 and 500,000 euros, you see this development increasing. This definitely applies to attractive areas such as the Zeeland coast."

If you buy a recreational home as an investment, you need to look carefully at the rental potential, quality of the home and, of course, the location and facilities at the park or nearby.
Source: NVM

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