Amsterdam has seen it's house prices rise by 1,9 percent in the final quarter of 2012, mainly thanks to the intervention of bargain-hunting foreign investors from China and Russia.

This welcome rise for property owners has come after a sharp 7 percent drop in the previous 9 months. Estate agency Engel & Völkers sees this as a sign that the market is once more stabilising after a period of decline due mainly to a lack of investment from wary banks.

Interviewed in the Property Investor Europe Magazine (PIE Mag), estate agent Barbara van der Grijp sees the relatively low prices in Amsterdam, compared with other prominent European capitals such as London or Paris, as an incentive for foreign investors to spend.

While prices remain lower than last year, the rise is expected to continue as this new international elite target the Jordaan and the canal district in particular.

Investors from not only the traditional powers of the UK, Germany and France but also Russia, China and even Israel and South Africa are taking their chances.

This follows an article from the Financial Times which declared that conditions were perfect for international buyers to place their roots in the capital city, particularly because of the government's attempt to stimulate the property market.

If investors follow through on their interest then we may once more see house prices on the rise in de mooie stad.