Buying a house in Eindhoven as an expat: what Brainport newcomers should know

I am Jiri, an estate agent in Maastricht, about an hour's drive from Eindhoven. Many of the expats who ask me about buying in the south work in the Brainport region: at ASML in Veldhoven, on the High Tech Campus, at the university or at one of the hundreds of suppliers around them. They usually arrive on a fixed contract, rent for a year, and then find that the homes they like are gone before they have booked a viewing. Here is how buying in and around Eindhoven works, and how to get to a home before it is listed.

What homes cost

Average sale price, Eindhoven

€469,870

2025, +4.3% on 2024

Province of Noord-Brabant

€486,894

2025

The Netherlands

€479,527

2025

Bidding above the asking price is still the norm in most of the country: in the second quarter of 2026, 71 percent of existing homes sold above it (NVM), on average 4.8 percent over (Huispedia). Know your own ceiling before you start. A Dutch bank lends at most the market value that an independent valuer puts on the home, so anything you bid above that valuation comes from your savings, together with the buyer's costs, kosten koper: two percent transfer tax for a home you will live in yourself (buyers under 35 buying their first home pay none below a price limit set each year), plus the notary, the valuer and your mortgage adviser.

For expats the mortgage is the step that takes longest. Lenders look at your contract, your income and, if you come from outside the EU, your residence permit, and they differ in how they treat a fixed-term contract. Talk to a mortgage adviser who works with international employees before you start viewing, and ask for a written statement of what you can borrow. In Eindhoven a selling agent will take you more seriously with that statement in your hand.

In the city or around it

Many people who work in the region do not live in Eindhoven itself. Veldhoven is where ASML is, and Nuenen, Waalre, Best and Son en Breugel are villages and small towns with more space for the money and the city ten or fifteen minutes away. Their prices since 1995 are on the house price pages for Veldhoven, Nuenen, Waalre and Best. If you have children, look at where the international schools are before you choose; it decides your daily route more than anything else.

Where homes change hands before Funda

In Eindhoven itself I have written about three neighbourhoods; Strijp-S is the former Philips industrial site, now lofts and apartments; a large part is rented, so find out which buildings are owner-occupied before you write. The Elzent is a villa neighbourhood from the 1920s and 1930s near the Van Abbemuseum, and the Villapark is where Philips' directors once lived. In the last two, a house comes up when a life changes, and it is often sold to someone the owner already knew.

Two ways in

The first is to get onto the lists of the agents who sell in the streets you want. Email three to five of them: who is buying, where, what kind of home, your budget and your adviser's statement, and that you can view at short notice. Call a week later. Agents in the region know the international employers and the timing that comes with a relocation; tell them when you need to move.

The second is to write to the owners yourself. Choose the streets, pick the houses that would suit you, and send each owner a short personal letter: who you are, why this house, that you will live there yourself, and that you would like to hear from them if they ever consider selling. No price and no deadline. An English letter is understood in Eindhoven, where many residents work for international companies; a short Dutch version on the back still goes a long way with older owners in the villages. Both routes are explained in how to buy an off-market house in the Netherlands, and a template is in writing to a Dutch homeowner. With DoorLetter the first letter is free, printed and delivered by PostNL, and the owner can reply anonymously with the code in the letter, also months later.

If your contract is for a fixed term

Buying makes sense if you expect to stay five years or more; the buyer's costs take a few years to earn back. If you might leave earlier and want to rent the home out, ask your lender first, because most Dutch mortgages are for homes the owner lives in, and check whether the municipality requires a permit to rent out cheaper homes in the first years after buying.

After a yes

When an owner replies and you agree on the outlines, an independent valuer values the home for your mortgage, your adviser arranges the loan, and the selling agent or a notary draws up the written purchase agreement. Once both of you have signed it there is a sale, with three days in which you may still withdraw. A few weeks or months later you sign the transfer at the notary's office and get the keys.