So far in 2024, house prices in Norway have risen by 8.3 per cent.

The average price for a home in Norway was NOK 4,757,789 at the end of August.

- House prices rose by 1.6 per cent in August, which produced a strong seasonally adjusted increase of 0.5 per cent. There was an increase in the seasonally adjusted house prices in all the big cities with the exception of Tromsø.This means that the underlying price development in the Norwegian housing market is strong at the moment, says managing director Henning Lauridsen of Eiendom Norge.

- We expect that the development this autumn will be stronger throughout the autumn than in 2022 and 2023, when house prices fell a lot. The great activity in the second-hand housing market and the large growth in the number of new second-hand homes on the market may indicate that the crisis in the new housing market is now beginning to have an effect on the second-hand housing market, he says.

- Although so far this year we have had a solid rise in house prices in most areas in Norway, throughout 2022 and 2023 we have had a moderate development in second-hand house prices. Measured as real prices, house prices are actually roughly at the same level as in 2017, says Lauridsen.

Over 10,000 sold in August

In August, 10,103 homes were sold in Norway, which is 8.6 per cent more than the corresponding month in 2023.

So far this year, 68,410 homes have been sold in Norway, which is 5.9 per cent more than in the same period in 2023.

In August, 14,233 homes were put up for sale in Norway, which is 6.3 per cent more than in the same month in 2023.

So far this year, 76,522 homes have been put up for sale in Norway, which is 3.3 per cent more than in the same period in 2023.

- As in July, a great many homes were sold in Norway in August. In fact, there have never been as many second-hand homes sold as in the month of August in the history of house price statistics. The large sales volume may indicate that many people are buying used homes instead of new homes now. And the sale of new homes has, as you know, fallen by around 50 per cent in the last two years, even though there is a great need for housing, says Lauridsen.

It took an average of 46 days to sell a home in August, down from 62 days in July. Stavanger and surrounding areas and Bergen had the shortest sales time with 25 days. Bodø with Fauske had the longest sales time with 89 days.

Strongest in the south and west

Kristiansand had the strongest seasonally adjusted price development in August, with a seasonally adjusted increase of 1.9 per cent.

Follo had the weakest seasonally adjusted price development in May, with a seasonally adjusted decrease of 0.5 per cent.

The strongest development so far in 2024 is Stavanger and its surroundings with 11.9 per cent. Trondheim has the weakest development so far this year, with an increase of 5.3 per cent.

- Price growth is solid in many areas, especially in Telemark, Southern Norway, South-West Norway and Western Norway, says Lauridsen.

The lending regulations must be abolished
On 23 August, the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority issued its evaluation and advice to Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) on new lending regulations from 2025.

Not unexpectedly, the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority proposed a continuation of the current regulations.

- We expect the Ministry of Finance to disregard the Finanstilsynet's advice, as it goes against all logic to retain regulations that have major damaging effects and do not work as intended, says Lauridsen.

- The government was wise to reduce the stress test in the lending regulations just two years ago. Now he is wise to let it expire from the New Year. It was intended to be a temporary regulation and then it should remain just that, says Lauridsen.

- In the coming years, we will have the lowest housing construction in Norway since the Second World War. The housing crisis will intensify the strong pressure in the owner-occupied and rented housing market. The only thing that can be done in the short term to stimulate housing construction is to remove the lending regulations, and that will work immediately, Lauridsen points out.

- Now we expect the government to put the Finanstilsynet's advice in the drawer and abolish the lending regulations, concludes Lauridsen.