Bidding above asking in Q2 2026: on the rise again
Rico Nederveen
28 July 2026
Reading time 5 minutes
The Dutch housing market is beginning to ease, yet 71% of homes still sold above asking price. National figures cannot tell you how much to offer on one specific property.
In the second quarter of 2026, 71% of homes sold above the asking price. On average, the sale price was 4.6% higher than the final asking price. That may appear to offer a clear starting point for your bid, but the NVM report mainly shows why you should not apply that percentage blindly.
A calmer market with more homes selling above asking
In Q2 2026, 56,701 homes were listed for sale: the highest number since NVM records began in 1995. Even so, bidding above asking increased again compared with the first quarter.
MEETPUNT
Q2 2025
Q1 2026
Q2 2026
Sold above asking price
74%
67%
71%
Difference between asking and sale price
5,7%
3,7%
4,6%
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Compared with a year earlier, bidding above asking became less common. Compared with the first quarter, however, both the share of above-asking sales and the average difference from asking price increased.
A market can therefore become less overheated while competition for popular homes intensifies again. A broad statement such as “the market is cooling” consequently offers little guidance when deciding how much to bid.
Property type makes a substantial difference
The national average of 4.6% conceals considerable variation between property types.
PROPERTY TYPE
SOLD ABOVE ASKING
DIFFERENCE FROM ASKING
Terraced house
80%
+5,9%
Apartment
73%
+5,6%
End-of-terrace house
73%
+4,4%
Detached house
48%
+0,6%
+3,6%
68%
Semi-detached house
Eight in ten terraced houses sold above asking. For detached homes, the majority sold at or below asking price. Price bracket matters too. Bidding above asking was most common for homes priced between €350,000 and €500,000. For properties above €1 million, bids below asking were more common than bids above it.
Falling regional prices do not necessarily create room to bid below asking
More than 80% of sales were above asking in the COROP regions of Utrecht, Oost-Zuid-Holland, Overig Groningen and Flevoland. In Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, this applied to fewer than one in three homes.
More strikingly, average sale prices in Groot-Amsterdam and the Achterhoek fell year on year, while NVM still describes these as tight markets where buyers regularly bid well above asking. The average price there was influenced by increased supply and by the sale of smaller homes on average.
A regional average price therefore does not automatically show how much competition surrounds the property you want to buy.
What can buyers expect during the rest of 2026?
Current housing-market forecasts point to further cooling, but not to a broad fall in prices. ABN AMRO expects average house prices across 2026 to be 3% higher than in 2025. Rabobank forecasts 2.8%, while DNB expects annual growth of 3% to 4% from 2026 through 2028.
Those annual figures do not mean prices will rise by the same percentage from the summer onwards. Rabobank instead expects prices to remain broadly stable during 2026. Much of the higher annual average reflects the fact that homes were already more expensive at the start of 2026 than they were on average in 2025.
Higher mortgage rates and economic uncertainty are dampening demand, while the housing shortage and income growth continue to support prices. At the same time, former rental properties being put up for sale are temporarily giving buyers more choice. Rabobank expects this wave of landlord sales to subside later in 2026.
None of these forecasts predicts how many homes will sell above asking in the third or fourth quarter. The most likely picture is therefore not that bidding above asking disappears everywhere, but that the differences widen: more room to negotiate on homes attracting less interest, while popular and move-in-ready properties remain competitive.
What do these figures mean for your offer?
NVM’s 4.6% is a useful market indicator, but not a percentage to add to every asking price. Property type, price bracket, location, condition and comparable sales together determine what constitutes a realistic and competitive offer.
SlimBieden combines these data in a personalised property report. This helps you make a better-informed offer, rather than simply bidding more.
