Existing homes have edge over new-build prices

The cost of buying an existing home increased at a faster pace than new-builds during the second quarter of 2022, property website atHome said.

The price of existing homes increased by 9% during the April-through-June period, mainly due to a surge in prices for houses instead of flats, atHome said on Sunday. The cost of new-builds increased by 6% compared with the same period in 2021.  

Since the start of the pandemic, homebuyers have been looking for a place they can move into immediately and are less likely to wait months or years for a new home to be ready, JLL residential director Robby Cluyssen said previously.

“People want to move straight away. They are fed up with being in a small space,” he said. “The demand for existing apartments is going through the roof but the supply isn’t there.”

The cost of building materials such as wood and steel has soared since the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, with materials needed to build new homes costing up to 20% more than before.

People are also venturing away from the capital in search of a larger home with outside space while they continue working from home, Engel & Völkers head of sales Raymond Klein said previously.

Existing house prices increased by 19% between April and June in the north of the country compared with the same period last year, atHome figures showed. Houses in the south increased by 12% and in the centre 10%.

Existing flat prices increased the most in the west at 16%, followed by 8% in the south and 4% in the east.

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