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Steep increase of mortgage rates and house prices, further tightening the Dutch housing market.
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The Dutch mortgage market is defined by significant rate increases over the first quarter of 2022. Increases of almost 1.5% are observed year-to-date, leading to deteriorating affordability. Meanwhile, the Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning presents first plans to take on the housing shortage.
Mortgage rates increased steeply following higher-than-expected inflation in the fourth quarter and subsequently through 2022-Q1. The increase in swap rates has led to further increases in mortgage rates. While we’ve seen a long period of minor rate changes, weekly changes of 20 to 30 bps are now very common.
The Dutch House Price Index increased with 4.2% in 2022-Q1 and 20.3% YoY, surpassing the previous YoY record of 19.6% in 2021-Q4.
With house price and interest rate increases, and the reduction of deductible interest, affordability has dropped significantly in the last quarter. Add increasing inflation and building supply chain disruptions to that mix and it is clear that the distant future remains very uncertain.
<blockquote><p>“The increase in swap rates has led to further increases in mortgage rates. While we’ve seen a long period of minor rate changes, weekly changes of 20 to 30 bps are now very common.”</p><span class="writer">Jasper Koops</span></blockquote>
The housing shortage is the largest challenge the newly-installed Minister of Housing and Spatial Planning Hugo de Jonge is facing, specifically for first-time buyers and the elderly. He aims to realize the construction of 1 million new houses by 2030 and to take 1.5 million existing houses off the gas network to only rely on electricity for heating and cooking.
Energy prices have seen large upwards pressure and have been very volatile. Statistics Netherlands (“CBS”) expects households to face an average 86% increase in energy costs in 2022. This translates to an increase of monthly energy payments of about 110 euros on average.
We investigated the impact on the risk/return profile and solvency capital requirement (SCR) for a typical insurance company allocating 10% of investments to Dutch mortgages. We observed that the risk-adjusted return of the investment portfolio improves in all cases, allowing insurance companies to increase the expected portfolio return by swapping low yielding assets for Dutch mortgages while keeping risk at similar levels. Additionally, the base case expected return can be maintained while reducing the overall portfolio risk.
Disclaimer Dynamic Credit Partners Europe B.V. (‘Dynamic Credit’) is a registered investment company (beleggingsondernemingsvergunning) and a registered financial service provider (financiëel dienstverlener) with the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (Autoriteit Financiële Markten). This presentation is intended for informational purposes only and is subject to change without any notice.The information provided is purely of an indicative nature and is not intended as an offer, investment advice, solicitation or recommendation for the purchase or sale of any security or financial instrument. Dynamic Credit may in the future issue, other communications that are inconsistent with, and reach different conclusions from, the information presented herein. Dynamic Credit cannot be held liable for the content of this presentation or any decision made by a third party on the basis of this presentation. Potential investors are advised to consult their independent investment and tax adviser before making an investment decision. An investment involves risks. The value of securities may fluctuate. Past returns are no guarantee for future returns.
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