By NOS.nl
A second home in the Netherlands: years ago it was mainly reserved for the over-60s, but nowadays more and more forty-somethings are also interested in a vacation home in the Netherlands.
At least that is what the organizers of the Second Home Fair are noticing. "I do find that striking: the over-40s are coming to this market. In any case, we see more and more strollers at the fair," says organizer Tom van den Brink. "These are the smaller entrepreneurs, such as self-employed people, who are also puzzling over their pensions." The number of visitors to the Second Home Fair increases each edition. The fair attracted over 4,000 visitors in the middle of the economic crisis, but now the counter stops at 7,000 to 8,000. According to the organization, this confirms the picture that this sector is growing.
Also TopParken, a chain with 19 vacation parks in the Netherlands, is noticing that more and more forty-somethings are interested in a second home in the Netherlands. This is partly due to the low savings rate, but also to the fact that an increasing number of tourists are coming to the Netherlands.
TopParken has been a specialist in the rental and sale of second homes in the Netherlands for many years. You can read here more about the possibilities, you can also easily and without obligation request more information.
Savings rate
One of the reasons a second home is becoming increasingly popular is that interest rates on savings are near zero. "Such a return does not make me happy," says Gerard Booij from Den Bosch. According to him, it is better to invest in bricks. The former entrepreneur sold a large distribution center last year, got a lot of money for it, and invested it in the purchase of five holiday homes in the Netherlands.
"Then you're talking about a return of 6 percent, that's different cake. Those cottages are rented 70 percent of the time to people who like to get away for a week. Great, right?"
Investing in bricks and mortar, is that without risk? Van den Brink: "No one can guarantee that the value of a vacation home will always remain at the same level or increase. But if you look at the past few years, you see that prices have been very stable and are now rising again somewhat. So in that respect it is a valuable investment."
How many Dutch people have a second home is not known. However, brokerage association NVM does have a picture of how many second homes have been sold in our country. In 2017 there were 4330, a 15 percent increase over the previous year. In 2018, that number would have risen further to 4700, based on figures from the Land Registry. According to the NVM, Zeeland is especially popular.
Spain on 1
A recent survey by the Second Home Fair among one thousand visitors shows that Spain is the favorite country for a vacation home (27 percent). This is followed by the Netherlands (17 percent) and France (12 percent). The average purchase price of a second home is 234,000 euros.
Half of the buyers have the cottage for rental, the other half use it for themselves, but also aim for the return on invested capital.
By NOS.nl
