Continued moderate development in house prices
House prices fell by 0.8 per cent in November. Adjusted for seasonal variations, prices rose by 0.2 percent.
House prices are now 3.1 per cent higher than a year ago.
- The moderate price trend in the housing market continued in November, and the trend so far in 2019 is close to Real Estate Norway's forecast with an increase of 3 per cent. We are now soon behind two years of moderate price growth, which is the longest continuous period of moderate price development that we have had in the Norwegian housing market, says Christian Vammervold Dreyer, CEO of Real Estate Norway.
Still great activity
In November, 7,154 homes were sold in Norway, which is 2.3 per cent less than in the corresponding month in 2018. So far in 2019, 2.7 per cent more homes have been sold than in the same period in 2018.
In November, 6,752 homes were put up for sale in Norway, which is 2.6 per cent less than in the same month in 2018. So far in 2019, 2.5 per cent more homes have been put up for sale than in the same period in 2018 .
- The growth in the number of homes sold and the number of new homes on the market has slowed somewhat in November. Despite this, the levels are historically high. Accumulated for the year, there have never been so many homes sold by the end of November. 2019 will be a new record year measured in the number of housing transactions, says Dreyer.
It took an average of 53 days to sell a home in November 2019. That's an increase from 47 days in October. Oslo had the fastest sales time with 27 days and the slowest sales time had Stavanger with 89 days.
- Turnover time is stable and, on average, turnover time throughout the year has been higher than in previous years. This is naturally given the large supply in the housing market, says Dreyer.
Regional price trends
The strongest seasonally adjusted price trend in November was Follo and Tønsberg w / Færder with an increase of 0.8 per cent. The weakest seasonally adjusted price trend was Stavanger w / surrounding area with a decrease of 0.8 per cent.
The strongest 12-month growth was Fredrikstad / Sarpsborg with 6.3 per cent, while Stavanger w / surrounding had the weakest development in the last 12 months with a decline of 2.6 per cent.
- For a large part of 2018 and throughout 2019, the market has been characterized by moderate price trends, large activity and small regional differences. We expect this development to continue in December and into 2020.
- On November 15, Finance Minister Siv Jensen (Frp) adopted the new mortgage loan regulations in force from January 1 to December 31, 2020. We support the Minister of Finance to continue the regulation without significant changes, and at the same time post a more thorough evaluation of it in 2020. This is wise in light of the moderate developments we have had in the housing market over a long period of time, and that more knowledge is needed about the effects of these types of instruments on housing prices and debt, concludes CEO of Real Estate Norway, Christian Vammervold Dreyer.
Real Estate Norway's forecast for the housing market 2020 will be released on Tuesday the 17th of December 2019.