Eekmaat, Enschede

Living in Eekmaat

Eekmaat is urban but not overwhelming, and the housing is dominated by single-family houses (67%), which is what draws settlers rather than passers-through.

At 4,863 residents per km² the buurt is busy without being packed.

Enschede is a university city near the German border with some of the lowest big-city prices in the country. The technical university sustains steady rental demand, and cross-border shopping in Gronau is a genuine local perk.

The housing market in Eekmaat

At €213,000 average WOZ value, Eekmaat ranks 60 out of 65 Enschede neighborhoods on price — 29% below the city median, which makes it one of the more approachable entry points into the city. For scale: Enschede's cheapest buurt averages €147,000 and its most expensive €860,000, so Eekmaat sits in the budget band of the city.

The direction of the market: between 2015 and 2025 the average WOZ value here rose from €117,000 to €226,000, up 93% — slower than the city as a whole (+100%). WOZ values lag the market by about a year, but the trend itself is reliable.

Ownership is split: 45% owner-occupied against 55% rental, including 49% 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, Eekmaat is a young-adult neighborhood — the 25-to-45 group outnumbers everyone else (29% of its 1,710 residents), followed by 45-to-65 year olds at 27%. Households split into 41% singles and 34% families with children — a real mix rather than one lifestyle. The average household counts 2.0 people.

As for who your neighbors would be: incomes skew modest — 59% of households are in the lower national bracket.

Daily errands, coffee and dinner

Day to day: the nearest large supermarket is about 5 minutes' walk; dining out means a short trip: only 6 cafés or restaurants sit within a kilometer.

The practical checklist most buyers forget to make: pharmacy 6 min walk · GP 6 min · hospital 5.7 km · library 0.7 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 10 minutes on foot; daycare is 0.9 km away — check waiting lists early, they are long everywhere in the Netherlands; secondary school is a 14-minute bike ride, which Dutch teenagers do in all weather.

Getting around

Getting around: the train station is 13 minutes on foot — commuting without a car is the natural choice; the nearest highway on-ramp is 2.1 km away; car ownership is moderate (0.9 per household).

Energy and running costs

91% 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 Eekmaat

Before you bid in Eekmaat: the price gap with the rest of Enschede 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 Enschede

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