It is becoming increasingly difficult for people in the Netherlands with an average income to find an affordable home, De Hypotheker has stated. The mortgage advisor compared the average income to the current housing prices, and this showed that two average incomes are currently needed to purchase an average-sized home. The average price for an existing home was 472,054 euros in April. Buyers would need a joint annual income of almost 100,000 euros to be able to loan this amount of money, De Hypotheker calculated.
It’s hard to downsize, and it may not always be affordable. In my part of the world, because of a few reasons between markets and mortgages, a 350m2 house is worth 80-90% as much as a 175m2 house. If the house has been in the family for 30 years that makes it worse because the house isn’t “updated”, so it’s possible to halve the living space and end up with a tax bill for your trouble.