The 18 m² parking space is, according to the announcement of the real estate agency J. Heule, located in a closed complex and “on the most famous and exclusive shopping street in the Netherlands.” The location on PC Hooftstraat, a stone’s throw from the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh Museum, can also be rented for 750 euros per month.
DriveCity: one of the most beautiful garages in the world is located in Nivelles
Housing crisis
The announcement shocked the country hard hit by the housing crisis: the price asked for the parking space is higher than the average price of housing in the Netherlands: 430,000 euros according to a report published at the end of 2023.
Another study pointed out the same year that there is a shortage of some 390,000 housing units in one of the most densely populated countries in Europe.
No housing was accessible to single people with an average income in Amsterdam in 2023, according to the Hypotheker website.
In addition to soaring prices, RTL points out that many parking spaces in city centers in the Netherlands have been closed to make urban centers less attractive for cars. They “are becoming more and more rare and their value is therefore increasing, but such a place is of course not worth half a million euros,” according to RTL.
The market for garages and parking lots has calmed down, “except in Knokke where some people pay the price of an apartment in Brussels to buy a garage”
An assertion that the real estate agency J. Heule disputed with the media, pointing out that the district, where houses sell for several million euros, is also full of expensive apartments and cars. “There is no outdoor space; so parking is very difficult in this area and there is rarely a parking space available.“
RTL also stressed that the Funda site, on which the ad was published, does not control whether the prices asked correspond to the value of what is put up for sale. “It just depends on whether anyone is crazy enough to pay that amount.“
