Amsterdam housing market in Q3 2026: more choice, still bidding over asking

If you are looking to buy a home in Amsterdam, the third quarter of 2026 gave you a bit more breathing room. More homes were for sale than a year earlier, prices held roughly steady and homes stayed on the market a little longer. Even so, more than three out of four homes still sold above the asking price. Those are the headline figures from the quarterly report that the Amsterdam Association of Estate Agents (MVA, in Dutch) published on 8 October.

Amsterdam in numbers

The MVA is the Amsterdam branch of the NVM, the largest association of estate agents in the Netherlands. Its figures cover existing owner-occupied homes in the municipality of Amsterdam that were listed or sold through NVM agents. The most recent quarter is provisional and may still be revised.

• 3,113 homes were for sale at the end of September, 25 percent more than a year earlier.
• The scarcity indicator, a rough ratio of supply to sales, rose from 3.0 to 3.5. A higher figure means more choice for buyers; the NVM treats anything below 5 as a tight market.
• The average time to sell was 36 days, compared with 31 days in the previous quarter.
• The median sale price was €583,839, almost unchanged from a year earlier.
• 77 percent of homes sold above the last asking price, on average by 6.3 percent. In the second quarter that average was 7.3 percent.
• NVM agents sold 2,652 homes, almost 11 percent fewer than in the second quarter and roughly the same as a year earlier.

About nine in ten homes sold were apartments.

How Amsterdam differs from the national picture

The NVM (in Dutch) published national figures on the same day. Across the Netherlands, the average sale price of an existing home was €503,000, up 1.8 percent year on year, and almost two thirds of homes sold above the asking price. For the wider Greater Amsterdam region, which includes surrounding municipalities, the NVM reported a price increase of only 0.6 percent. So international news about "Dutch house prices" does not translate directly to Amsterdam. Prices here are higher and rose less, and bidding above the asking price is more common than in the rest of the country.

What this means if you are buying

Paying more than the asking price is normal in Amsterdam, which surprises many buyers from abroad. In the Dutch system the asking price is an invitation to bid, not a target price. The new figures show that this has not changed, although the gap has narrowed slightly.

Districts differ a lot

In West, 85 percent of homes sold above the asking price. In Noord it was 84 percent and in Oost 82 percent. In Weesp, a small town that has been part of the municipality since 2022, it was 57 percent. Buyers had the most choice in the city centre, while West remained the tightest district. The median price per square metre ranged from €9,577 in Centrum to €4,777 in Zuidoost.

An average is not a bidding strategy

It is tempting to treat "6.3 percent over asking" as a rule of thumb. It is an average across very different homes, including some that sold at or below the asking price. What a specific apartment is worth depends on recent sales nearby, its condition, the owners' association and, in much of the city, the ground lease. Keep in mind that a Dutch mortgage lender bases your loan on the valuation, not on your bid, so any amount above that valuation usually has to come from your own savings. A buying agent can help you compare a home with recent sales and judge what a sensible bid looks like.

What this means if you are selling

With more homes on the market, buyers compare more carefully. According to the MVA, Amsterdam buyers look more closely at the asking price, maintenance, the energy label and their expected monthly costs. Nationally, the NVM found that well maintained homes with a good energy label sold in 28 days on average, against 36 days for homes without those qualities. That is a national figure, not an Amsterdam one, but it fits the local picture. Our earlier article explains what changed for energy labels in 2026.

For sellers the main lesson is that an asking price needs to be supported by comparable sales in the same area. You can read how we approach a sale on our services page.

One quarter is a snapshot

Summer is usually a quieter period, the latest figures are provisional and they only cover sales through NVM agents. A citywide median also says little about one particular canal house or a flat in Nieuw-West. The broad direction is clear, though. Amsterdam is less overheated than a year ago, but in the most popular districts sellers still have the upper hand.

Sources: Makelaarsvereniging Amsterdam, housing market figures Q3 2026 (8 October 2026); NVM, housing market figures Q3 2026 (8 October 2026). Both in Dutch.