Netherlands property - the new spain?

The housing market in The Netherlands is facing a "Spanish-style" slump, according to BAM. The construction firm, one of Holland's biggest, says that house prices are already on the decline, but expects them to fall even further.

Values will drop by up to 15 per cent, the company predicts, leaving house prices at a possible 30 per cent below their peak in 2008.

"In our models, we are now counting on further price drops in 2012 and 2013, in total to a 25 to 30% drop," BAM chief executive Nico de Vries told Property Wire.

The new forecast follows initial predictions that the market would bottom out in the second quarter of 2012. That has since been revised, with recovery pushed back by two or three years to maybe as late as 2015.