In contrast to every other province in the Netherlands, rent prices are actually down in Drenthe and Friesland compared to last year.
Translation by Traci White
According to figures released by rental site Pararius, rent prices are on average 3.3 percent cheaper in Drenthe and 2.7 percent cheaper in Friesland in the second quarter of 2018 than they were in 2017.
The Algemeen Dagblad reports that the province of Groningen is the exact opposite: prices are up 8.5 percent since last year. Friesland and Drenthe are the only two provinces in the entire country that have seen prices go down in the past 12 months.
In Drenthe, that translates into roughly 8.42 euros per square meter of a rental property, and 8.69 euros in Friesland. Groningen is far more expensive in that sense: the average price per square meter is 13.45. The average for the province of Groningen is strongly influenced by the highly competitive rental market in the city
Groningen saw the third biggest jump in pricing since 2017. Only Zeeland and Gelderland have seen their prices rise more than Groningen: rental rates are up in both provinces by more than 10 percent. Jasper de Groot, the director of Pararius, told the AD that part of the difference in rental prices between the north and the rest of the country is partially down to furnishing: most rental properties in the north do not come with furniture, but that is more common on the rental market in the Randstad.
Home sales
The price increase in Groningen is especially dramatic when it is put into perspective as part of a long term trend. The Groninger Internet Courant reported last summer that rental prices in the city had risen by 17 percent between 2016 and 2017, and rental prices last year were 13.01 per square meter on average.
Numbers released last week also indicated that the prices of homes sold in Groningen are higher than in Friesland and Drenthe. Prices in the second quarter of 2018 were 14.8 percent higher than the same period in 2017, which is far above the national average of 10.4 percent.
