Circus/Kermisbuurt, Amsterdam

Living in Circus/Kermisbuurt

Circus/Kermisbuurt is urban but not overwhelming, and the stock is a genuine mix of apartments and family houses (35% houses).

At 8,388 residents per km² the buurt is busy without being packed.

Amsterdam is the tightest housing market in the Netherlands: international workers, students and families chase the same limited stock, overbidding is routine in popular price bands, and a large social-housing sector keeps much of the city permanently off the open market. Where a buurt sits relative to the ring road (A10) and a metro or tram line explains a surprising share of its price.

The housing market in Circus/Kermisbuurt

At €406,000 average WOZ value, Circus/Kermisbuurt ranks 328 out of 424 Amsterdam neighborhoods on price — 20% below the city median, leaving room in the budget that pricier neighborhoods would swallow. For scale: Amsterdam's cheapest buurt averages €58,000 and its most expensive €2,250,000, so Circus/Kermisbuurt sits in the budget band of the city.

The direction of the market: between 2023 and 2025 the average WOZ value here fell from €405,000 to €393,000, down 3% — roughly in step with the rest of the city. WOZ values lag the market by about a year, but the trend itself is reliable.

Ownership is split: 55% owner-occupied against 45% rental, including 37% social housing. Enough homes trade hands to give you comparable sales, but check what's actually for sale versus rented in the specific block you're eyeing — the mix can flip from one street to the next.

Who lives here

Demographically, Circus/Kermisbuurt is a young-adult neighborhood — the 25-to-45 group outnumbers everyone else (33% of its 1,335 residents), followed by 45-to-65 year olds at 30%. Households split into 47% singles and 31% families with children — a real mix rather than one lifestyle. The average household counts 1.9 people.

As for who your neighbors would be: incomes skew modest — 41% of households are in the lower national bracket.

Daily errands, coffee and dinner

Day to day: plan your groceries: the nearest large supermarket is 0.9 km away; this is not a going-out neighborhood — the cafés are elsewhere.

The practical checklist most buyers forget to make: pharmacy 16 min walk · GP 16 min · hospital 4.5 km · library 1.3 km. None of these will decide a purchase on their own, but a GP taking new patients nearby is the kind of thing you only miss after moving.

Families and schools

For families: the nearest primary school is 12 minutes on foot; daycare is 1.0 km away — check waiting lists early, they are long everywhere in the Netherlands; secondary school is a 3-minute bike ride, which Dutch teenagers do in all weather.

Getting around

Getting around: the nearest train station is 6.3 km out, so day-to-day life here leans on the car or bus; a highway on-ramp 0.7 km away makes car trips easy — check whether through-traffic noise reaches the street you're considering; car ownership is moderate (0.7 per household).

Energy and running costs

92% of homes were built before 2000. Two identical-looking houses on the same street can differ by hundreds of euros a month once heating is counted — the energy label tells you which one you're looking at, and lenders increasingly price it into your mortgage too.

Before you bid in Circus/Kermisbuurt

Before you bid in Circus/Kermisbuurt: much of Amsterdam sits on soft soil, and pre-1970 homes may stand on wooden piles — since the 2026 appraisal rules, a foundation risk class (A–E) appears in every valuation, so check it before you bid, not after the deal is already emotional. Also, the price gap with the rest of Amsterdam is real, but so is the reason for it — walk the neighborhood at different times of day before committing.

None of these averages can tell you whether the specific house you found is fairly priced — that depends on its size, energy label, state of maintenance and the recent sales around it. That is exactly what a free HomeReview report checks, in about 10 seconds, for any Dutch address.

Frequently asked questions

Similar neighborhoods in Amsterdam

Closest in price — worth a look if Circus/Kermisbuurt is out of reach or you want alternatives.