Buying a house in the Oranjebuurt (Groningen): how to reach the owners

The Oranjebuurt is a neighbourhood where little comes up for sale and much of it changes hands without ever reaching Funda. If you want to live here, a personal letter to the owners in a few chosen streets gives you a better chance than waiting for a listing.

In short

  • The Oranjebuurt has 1,567 addresses in the BAG register.
  • An existing home in the municipality of Groningen sold in 2025 for €397,000 on average, +6.2% on 2024 (CBS StatLine).
Jiri

Written by Jiri, estate agent in Maastricht and founder of DoorLetter.

Updated on 5 October 2026.

The Oranjebuurt is the neighbourhood Groningen people want to move to as soon as they want a whole house with a garden and still be in the city centre by bike. Residents stay a long time. A whole house comes free here when a life changes, and then the buyer is often already known: a neighbour who wants to move up, a colleague from the university, someone who once sent a letter. On Funda you mainly see the upstairs flats.

The neighbourhood was built in the 1920s and 1930s, against the Noorderplantsoen, largely by housing associations and for a few years mainly by private builders. Broad streets such as the Stadhouderslaan and the Nassaulaan with greenery down the middle, terraced houses and upstairs and ground-floor flats in red brick, many with the original front doors and stained glass. A whole house with a garden on a broad street is what everyone is looking for and what comes free least often.

If I were looking here, I would pick the Nassaulaan and a stretch of the Prinsesseweg and write to the residents of the buildings I like. Who I am, why the Oranjebuurt, and that I am going to live in the house myself and not let it out by the room. In Groningen that last sentence is the one that makes the difference.

Oranjebuurt in figures

Public figures about the neighbourhood, refreshed daily. They say something about who lives here and what it costs; whether anything will come up for sale, they do not say. That is what the letter is for.

Homes

Addresses
1,567
BAG via PDOK

Value and prices

Average sale price, municipality of Groningen
€397,000+6.2% on 2024
CBS StatLine, existing homes 2025

Sources: the Dutch address and building register (BAG) via PDOK, CBS neighbourhood statistics (Wijken en Buurten), CBS StatLine (existing owner-occupied homes, average sale price per municipality). No source publishes overbidding figures per neighbourhood, so they are not here.

The average sale price in Groningen per year since 1995

Streets people ask about

These are the streets most often named by people searching in the Oranjebuurt. Choose one or two where you would really want to live, not the whole list.

Stadhouderslaan · Nassaulaan · Prinsesseweg · Oranjesingel · Graaf Adolfstraat · Johan Willem Frisostraat

Postcode area 9717.

Other neighbourhoods in Groningen

This page in Dutch: Huis kopen in de Oranjebuurt.

Frequently asked questions

How do I approach owners in the Oranjebuurt?

Pick a few streets where you would really want to live and write the residents one personal letter: who you are, why the Oranjebuurt, and that you are going to live in the house yourself and not let it out. Through DoorLetter the first letter is free, printed and delivered by PostNL; the owner can reply anonymously with the code in the letter.

Does much come up for sale in the Oranjebuurt?

Upstairs flats, yes; whole houses with a garden, little. Those rarely change hands, and when it happens it often goes outside Funda, through neighbours, colleagues or an agent who already knew a buyer. Anyone who wants a house like that is better off writing than waiting.

Which streets are most sought after?

The broad streets with greenery down the middle, such as the Stadhouderslaan and the Nassaulaan, and the houses against the Noorderplantsoen. But sought after also means a lot of competition; a quiet street that you like and that is not in every top ten often gives you a better chance.

Many buildings here are let by the room. Is a letter still worthwhile?

Part of the Oranjebuurt is student lettings, and then the tenant reads your letter. Look for the buildings with one nameplate and a well-kept front door, and say in the letter that it is meant for whoever owns the house. Owners here have been getting cards from landlords for years; a letter from someone who wants to live there themselves reads differently.

Write to the owners in the Oranjebuurt.

Pick a street, write in your own words why you want to live in the Oranjebuurt, and send your letter. The first letter is free, printed and delivered by PostNL; the owner can reply anonymously with the code in the letter.

Write your first letter

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