Overbidding remains the norm, but buyers are becoming more strategic
Marnix Hazelhoff
27 October 2025
Reading time 4 minutes
Recent figures on the housing market once again show how competitive buying a home has become. In the third quarter of 2025, 71% of all homes were sold above the asking price, with an average overbid of 4.9%. That’s slightly lower than the previous quarter, but still substantial.
More supply, but no relief
This quarter, more than 46,000 homes (+17% compared to last year) came onto the market; the highest number since 2008. Yet the market remains tight. The NVM tightness indicator remains at 2.3, meaning there are still only just over two homes available per buyer. Supply is increasing, but the most desirable homes still disappear from the market very quickly.
The average time to sell rose slightly to 29 days, mainly due to the summer months, but historically, that’s still extremely fast. Four out of five homes find a new owner within a single quarter.
Where does overbidding happen the most?
Competition is particularly fierce in the north of the Netherlands. In regions such as Delfzijl and surrounding areas, more than 80% of homes are sold above the asking price, with differences reaching almost 10%. In northern Friesland and parts of Drenthe, price growth still exceeds 10% per year.
In the major cities, the picture is quite different. In Amsterdam, the average sale price fell slightly (-0.3%), mainly due to more sales of smaller and decontrolled apartments. In The Hague and Rotterdam, the same effect is slowing price increases: overbidding still happens often, but the amounts above the asking price are smaller. Only in popular city districts, such as Utrecht-East or Amsterdam-West, do bidding wars still occur regularly.
In short: overbidding remains standard in urban areas, but the intensity varies. While buyers in the north continue to bid far above asking prices, city buyers are more strategic and less emotional in their offers.
From bidding to calculating
Buyers appear to be more cautious. Real estate agents report fewer viewings (9.6 per home, down from 11.2 last year) and fewer bids (3.5 instead of 4.2). That might look like a cooling market, but in reality it means buyers are better informed and more targeted in their approach. The era of spontaneous “blind overbidding” is giving way to a data-driven strategy, knowing what a home is worth and calculating exactly how much margin makes sense.
At SlimBieden, we see this reflected in the data: successful bidders combine market insights with realistic bidding strategies. A difference of just one percentage point in the offer can now be the deciding factor between winning or losing, saving or spending thousands of euros.
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Conclusion
The 2025 housing market remains a market of overbidding, but its nature is changing. The share of buyers bidding above the asking price is slightly decreasing, and the average overbid is also falling. This seems like a cooling trend, but in fact, the market is becoming smarter: buyers are less impulsive and more precise in calculating a home’s true value.
Those who base their bidding strategy on up-to-date market data and comparable transactions have a much better chance of making the right offer, without paying more than necessary.
