A second home also means burdens

With savings not yielding a penny for a long time, many savers are desperately looking for alternatives. More people are investing, for example. This has to do with increasing confidence in the economy, but also with the hunt for a higher return on savings. Also, more and more people are looking for a second home, often a recreational home in their own country. This may be for personal use, perhaps partly as a result of corona (more space and peace seekers). But in many cases, the idea among buyers is that fully or partially renting out the purchased vacation home can still make the savings yield somewhat.

The result is that the market for second homes is slowly beginning to look like the regular housing market. An increasing demand versus an ever-tighter supply, causing prices to rise sharply. Last year, 7,300 recreational homes were sold in the Netherlands, an increase of no less than 70% compared to the previous year. The average sales price was €172,500, an increase of 13.6%, the highest increase since 2004 when the NVM first published these figures. The supply decreased in one year by 57%.

The selling time does show a clearly different picture. Where a regular house is now often sold within three weeks, it still takes an average of slightly more than a year for recreational houses: 385 days. It is also striking that expensive recreation homes (above €500,000) are sold more quickly (in 257 days). By contrast, a vacation home in the price category below €100,000 is for sale for an average of 500 days. This is a clear illustration of the trend towards more expensive and durable in the recreation sector. The chalet with simple comfort is gradually making way for homes with a sleeker design, sustainable materials and, if possible, a private sauna. Of course, you can then ask higher rental prices for this.

There is also the other side of the coin. Investing in a recreational home is not always the “golden opportunity” we are looking for. There are often many additional costs, ranging from leasehold if the house is not on its own land, to contributions for the general facilities of the vacation park, rental costs and cleaning and maintenance costs. It is always advisable to do thorough preliminary research at this point and to seek financial advice to ensure that the sunny financial outlook is not overshadowed by dark clouds.