Eekmaat West, Enschede

Living in Eekmaat West

Eekmaat West is quiet and low-density, and most of its 1,167 homes are houses rather than apartments — front doors, gardens, street parking.

With just 3,795 residents per km², this is space by Dutch standards.

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 West

At €346,000 average WOZ value, Eekmaat West ranks 21 out of 65 Enschede neighborhoods on price — 16% above the city median. You pay for the location here. For scale: Enschede's cheapest buurt averages €147,000 and its most expensive €860,000, so Eekmaat West sits in the middle band of the city.

The direction of the market: between 2015 and 2025 the average WOZ value here rose from €189,000 to €377,000, up 99% — roughly in step with the rest of the city. WOZ values lag the market by about a year, but the trend itself is reliable.

With 78% of homes owner-occupied, this is a settled buyers' neighborhood — homes change hands regularly, and you can usually find recent comparable sales on the same street to anchor your bid. Settled also means slower: owners here tend to stay, so the best houses may only list once a decade.

Who lives here

Demographically, Eekmaat West is dominated by established households in the 45-to-65 bracket (31% of its 3,035 residents), followed by 25-to-45 year olds at 21%. 45% of households have children at home, so expect school runs, playgrounds in use, and neighbors who stay put. The average household counts 2.4 people.

As for who your neighbors would be: incomes are broadly middle-of-the-road (23% high-income, 27% low-income households); average income per resident is €30,000 a year.

Daily errands, coffee and dinner

Day to day: plan your groceries: the nearest large supermarket is 1.0 km away; dining out means a short trip: only 1 café or restaurant sit within a kilometer.

The practical checklist most buyers forget to make: pharmacy 12 min walk · GP 29 min · hospital 4.4 km · library 2.6 km · 2 cinemas within 5 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 11 minutes on foot; daycare is 0.9 km away — check waiting lists early, they are long everywhere in the Netherlands; secondary school is a 9-minute bike ride, which Dutch teenagers do in all weather.

Getting around

Getting around: the station is a 10-minute cycle, standard Dutch commuting range; the nearest highway on-ramp is 2.7 km away; households here average 1.2 cars, so assume driveways and parking are part of daily logistics.

Energy and running costs

Since 63% of the stock predates 2000, always check the energy label of a specific listing — the difference between label C and label F on an average home here is easily a few thousand euros a year in heating, and it changes what you can sensibly bid.

Before you bid in Eekmaat West

Before you bid in Eekmaat West: family neighborhoods like this one turn over slowly; when a good house appears it often goes to the first serious, well-prepared bidder.

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 West is out of reach or you want alternatives.