Rise in house prices in September
House prices rose by 0.4 per cent in September 2020. Adjusted for seasonal variations, prices rose by 1.3 per cent.
House prices are now 5.8 per cent higher than a year ago.
- Housing prices continue to rise and a record number of second-hand homes are still being sold in Norway, says Henning Lauridsen, CEO of Eiendom Norge.
- The sharp increase in second-hand home sales is probably due to people turning their consumption towards housing and that many are now also speeding up planned home purchases. This is not unnatural since there are now restrictions on other types of consumption, and the corona measures can be very long-lasting, he says.
- It is very positive that the development in the second-hand housing market is now also spreading to the new housing market. It is needed, as there is an accumulated deficit on the supply side in the housing market and especially in Eastern Norway. Increased housing investments and increased housing construction will be good for both the Norwegian economy and the housing market as such, says Lauridsen.
Increasing turnover
In September, 11,133 homes were sold in Norway, which is 16.8 per cent more than in the corresponding month in 2019. So far this year, 77,390 homes were sold in Norway, which is 5 per cent more than at the same time in 2019.
In September, 10,745 homes were put up for sale in Norway, which is 3.8 per cent more than in the same month in 2019. So far this year, 81,562 homes have been put up for sale, which is 2.2 per cent less than at the same time last year.
- A record number of homes were sold last month, similar to the months after the most stringent corona measures were repealed. In September, the number of new homes on the market will also increase. The declining trend in the number of new homes on the market in recent months has now been broken, says Lauridsen.
It took an average of 48 days to sell a home in September 2020. This is a decrease from 54 days in August. Oslo had the shortest sales time with 23 days and Kristiansand and Stavanger and the surrounding area had the longest sales time with 70 days.
- The sales period is stable and at a somewhat higher level than in previous years. A stable sales time testifies to a healthy housing market, says Lauridsen.
Leave the mortgage regulations in place
Ålesund and the surrounding area had the strongest seasonally adjusted price development in September, with an increase of 2.7 per cent. Kristiansand had the weakest seasonally adjusted price development with unchanged seasonally adjusted prices.
Oslo and Porsgrunn w / Skien had the strongest 12-month growth with an increase of 7.7 per cent, while Stavanger w / environs had the weakest development in the last 12 months with an increase of 1.7 per cent.
- Housing price development is strong in most areas in Norway. It is now important that all public and private players in the housing market contribute to the housing market and increase the pace of regulation and housing construction.
- Finanstilsynet's recent proposal for further credit rationing through the mortgage regulations is therefore the wrong medicine. It will weaken both housing investments and ordinary wage earners' ability to become homeowners.
- The mortgage regulations are already tight enough as they are and it should not be tightened further. The underlying problem is not high debt, but structural problems on the supply side of the housing market. These are the measures that must be put in place. Further credit rationing is not the answer, Lauridsen concludes.
