For most people who end up living here, yes. Almere gives you space and greenery at a price you will not find closer to Amsterdam, and the intercity puts you at Amsterdam Zuid in a little over twenty minutes. What you give up is an old town centre, because the city only dates from 1976 and you can see that everywhere.
That is where the disagreement about Almere comes from. Anyone who drives around here expecting canals and gabled houses is done with the place within the hour. Anyone who looks at what a house costs and how far the children have to cycle to school usually comes back for a second viewing.
What kind of city Almere is
Almere is built on the bed of the former Zuiderzee, on land that was drained in 1968. The first residents arrived in 1976, in Almere Haven. The city then grew in separate districts, with a strip of woodland, meadow or water between each of them.
That explains why it feels different from a city that grew slowly around a church. Cars have their own roads and cyclists have theirs, so your children cycle to secondary school without crossing a busy junction. The downside is how spread out everything is. Distances are longer here, and without a bike or a car you notice that immediately.
What a house in Almere costs
In the first quarter of 2026 the average sale price in Almere was around € 461,000, at an average of roughly € 4,183 per square metre. So this is no longer the cheap commuter town it was twenty years ago. You do still buy more square metres here than in Amsterdam or het Gooi.
A selection from our own Almere listings in September 2026, to give you the range. Whatever is for sale today you will find on our property listings page.
| Property | Floor area | Asking price |
|---|---|---|
| Walk-up apartment, Keizerstraat | 83 m² | € 325,000 |
| Terraced house, M.J. Granpré Molièrestraat | 107 m² | € 395,000 |
| Terraced house, Parkwijklaan | 112 m² | € 440,000 |
| End-terrace house, Folkloreweg | 169 m² | € 575,000 |
| Detached house, Johannes Vermeerstraat | 201 m² | € 875,000 |
Bidding above the asking price is still part of the game. A terraced house of 88 m² on the Irispad was listed at € 385,000 and sold for € 420,000. An end-terrace house of 107 m² on the Bromeliastraat asked € 450,000 and went for € 485,000. So budget for something above the asking price, and remember that a lender will not finance that difference.
The districts in brief
Where you live in Almere matters more than which type of home you buy.
- Almere Haven is the oldest district. It sits on the Gooimeer, has a working marina and small-scale streets, and feels the least like new-build of all the districts.
- Almere Stad has the centre, the main station and the Weerwater. This is where you find the most amenities and also the most bustle.
- Almere Buiten is spacious and green, with plenty of family houses from the 1980s and 1990s, its own shopping centre and its own station.
- Almere Poort is the newest. It lies against the IJmeer with a beach and dunes, and of all the districts it is closest to Amsterdam.
- Almere Hout is rural, with large plots and the Oosterwold area, where people build their own houses.
- Almere Pampus is still under development.
What people like less about it
The architecture is not for everyone. Almere was built in waves and every wave had its own fashion, so you come across streets that looked modern in 1980 and no longer do. Living here without a car also takes a little more planning than in an old city centre, because the school and the shopping centre are rarely around the corner.
And then there is the reputation. People elsewhere in the country have opinions about Almere without ever having been here, and you notice that mainly when you want to sell the house again to someone who starts out the same way.
Who Almere works well for
First-time buyers still find homes here that have been out of reach elsewhere in the Randstad for years. For families it is mostly the garden that counts, and the cycling distance to school. Anyone who works in Amsterdam but does not have to sleep there trades an apartment for a house with a garden and has money left over.
Two reasons come up again and again with buyers from outside Almere. The first is the location. Intercity trains run from Almere Centrum to Amsterdam, Schiphol, Utrecht and Zwolle without changing, so you live between several large cities rather than on the edge of one. The second applies to expats, who often choose Almere for International School Almere, which means the family lives in the same city where the children go to school.
If you do not know yet which district suits you, come and look on a weekday around dinner time. On a Saturday afternoon every neighbourhood looks good.
Frequently asked questions
What does a house in Almere cost?
On average around € 461,000 in the first quarter of 2026, roughly € 4,183 per square metre. In our own listings an apartment starts at around € 325,000 and a detached house runs to over € 800,000.
Can I live in Almere and work in Amsterdam?
Yes. The intercity puts you at Amsterdam Zuid in a little over twenty minutes, and every district has its own station or sits close to one. Trains to Schiphol, Utrecht and Zwolle also leave from Almere Centrum without a change. By car you depend on the A6 and the Hollandse Brug, and in the morning rush hour that costs you more time than the rail link.
Which district of Almere is the nicest?
That depends on what you are after. Haven for the atmosphere and the water, Stad for the amenities, Buiten for space and greenery, Poort for new build and the beach, Hout for rural living.
Want to see it for yourself?
We have been working in this city for more than thirty years and know the differences between the neighbourhoods street by street. Drop by our office in the centre, or give us a call if you are coming from outside Almere and want to know where to start looking. See how we help you buy a home.
Further reading: What does a buying agent in Almere cost? and the cheapest apartment in Almere: what do you need to earn?.
