Amsterdam’s house prices set to hit record

Bloomberg

Amsterdam’s homes are going for record prices as more expats move into the city. House prices in the Amsterdam region rose 8 percent in the fourth quarter compared to
the year earlier, statistics from realtors association NVM sho-wed. The median transaction price was 448,000 euros ($517,000), a new record. Although the pace of the rise was the slowest in almost four years, it was the 22nd consecutive quarterly price increase.
Take this property for sale at Hoofdweg 398, for example. Only a block away from the A10 highway, a road that locals jokingly call the border of Amsterdam, the two-bedroom house — just enough for a couple with one child — is commanding an asking price of a whopping 555,000 euros. In the eastern part of the Dutch capital, another seller is asking 265,000 euros for a room measuring 28 square meters.
With the city now too expensive for many, prices may start heading south, NVM Chairman Ger Jaarsma said in a statement. “In certain regions, and specifically in Amsterdam, the continuing rise of house prices is slowly nearing its end,”
he said. “The affordability of housing, especially for households with less money to spend, has declined and consumers are turning away.” Qua-rter on quarter, the price gain in Amsterdam was 0.9 percent.
A large part of the latest buying wave in Amsterdam comes from expats, many of whom are heading there because of Brexit and as the city works on luring foreign companies.