I missed this when it came out, but the NRC Handelsblad had a piece Saturday on the latest data from University of Maastricht professor Piet Eichholtz‘s famous index of house prices along the Herengracht in Amsterdam dating back to 1650 (translation mine):
The average house on the Herengracht now costs 2.6 million euros. That is, on an inflation-adjusted basis, just a bit less than in 1736, when house prices along the Herengracht were at their historical high. If house prices keep rising at their current tempo, the 271-year-old record will be tied in 2008.
Eichholtz’s index is a favorite of Yale economist Bob Shiller, who sees it as evidence that real estate prices don’t always go up, and can in fact decline for centuries on end. Take a look at the chart, and you can see what he means.