Amsterdam parking space on sale for more than $500,000

Housing is at a premium and so is parking in the Netherlands, but a parking space put up for sale this week for almost 500,000 euros - more than the average home price - has raised eyebrows. 

Located in P.C. Hooftstraat next to Amsterdam's famous Vondelpark, the indoor space was advertised at €495,000 ($528,000) on the Dutch property website funda.nl.

"We are offering a parking space for sale or for rent on the best known and most exclusive shopping street in the Netherlands," read the advertisement.

The parking space is also a stone's throw from major attractions like the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Dutch broadcaster RTL Nieuws, which first reported the story, called it "the most expensive parking space in the Netherlands." 

It noted that hundreds of parking spaces were on sale across the country "but this specific price has... raised eyebrows."

For those willing to fork out the jaw-dropping amount, the advertisement said the closed-in 18-square-meter space is "well-suited for wider cars" and noted "there's enough space for the chauffeur and passengers to step out."

The parking space can also be rented for €750 a month.

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Jeel Heule, the estate agent selling the parking space, told RTL he disagreed with those who consider the price to be too high given the lack of other parking available.

"For people... in this neighborhood buying a parking space offers a solution," Heule said.

The Netherlands, one of Europe's most densely populated countries with 17.8 million people, is facing an acute housing shortage of some 390,000 homes, according to a recent study.

The average house price was €430,000 ($463,217) last year and someone making the national average wage has been priced out of the Amsterdam market.

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