Stories · for international professionals
Living beyond Brainport: space and heritage in West-Brabant
By De Chroniqueur van de Markt · 5 July 2026 · reading time ± 5 minutes
The Brainport region keeps growing, and its housing market keeps tightening. Not every international professional wants to compete for a suburban house next to the ring road. An hour to the west, the same budget buys something the Eindhoven market simply does not offer: a listed 19th-century mansion on a market square, with a garden and room to work from home.
In brief
- Eindhoven: roughly € 4,800 to 5,200 per m² (mid-2026), with over 70% of homes sold above asking price; Markt 84: ± € 2,150 per m².
- € 1,250,000 buys 583 m² of listed living space on a 913 m² plot, with a 57 m² outbuilding.
- Brainport campus about an hour by car off-peak; International School Breda ± 25 minutes.
- Honest note: this is not a short daily commute. It suits hybrid work.
How tight is the Eindhoven housing market, really?
The numbers speak plainly. Mid-2026, market data for the municipality of Eindhoven put the average price around € 5,000 per square metre, and June 2026 market reports note a housing shortage of more than 7,000 homes, with over 70% of properties selling above the asking price at an average of nearly 7% overbid. For internationals arriving in the region, that means competing for family homes in a queue.
Markt 84 sits in a different market. With 583 m² of living space, Markt 84 works out at roughly € 2,150 per square metre at its most recent asking price: less than half the Eindhoven average, for a national monument with a 27-metre south-facing garden and a detached 57 m² outbuilding that lends itself to a home office or studio.
Does the commute work?
Honestly: this is not a ten-minute cycle to the campus, and we will not pretend otherwise. The Brainport campus area around Veldhoven is roughly 80 kilometres via the A58, about an hour by car outside peak hours. That rules out anyone who needs to be at the office early every single day.
It works for the way many Brainport professionals actually organise their week: two or three days on campus, the rest remote. On home days, the difference is the point: a dedicated study instead of a corner of the living room, or the outbuilding across the garden as a separate office. Breda, with its international school, is about 25 minutes away; Rotterdam is about 50 minutes by train with one change at Dordrecht; Antwerp is about 45 minutes by car.
What do you give up, honestly?
The expat bubble, mostly. Eindhoven has an international scene that a Brabant village does not: colleagues around the corner, international supermarkets, meetups every week. Oudenbosch offers the opposite trade: a Dutch village life with a famous basilica, a market square where neighbours know your name, and a house that makes the Netherlands feel less temporary. Some internationals want the bubble; others, especially with a family, are ready to land somewhere real.
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De Chroniqueur van de Markt is the pen name under which the stories on this site are published. This article is based on public market data (huiswaardemeter.nl, huisverkopen.nl), public travel information and the sales documentation of the property. Prices and travel times are indicative, reference date July 2026; no rights can be derived from this article.
Frequently asked questions
How far is the Brainport campus?
About 80 km via the A58, roughly an hour by car outside peak hours. Suited to hybrid schedules, not to daily early starts at the office.
How does the price compare with Eindhoven?
Eindhoven averages ± € 4,800 to 5,200 per m² with structural overbidding; Markt 84 comes to ± € 2,150 per m², less than half.
Are there international schools nearby?
International School Breda is about 25 minutes by car; Rotterdam is about 50 minutes by train (one change).