So far this year, house prices in Norway have risen by 4.5 per cent.

The average price for a home in Norway was NOK 4,349,768 at the end of February.

- House prices rose further in February after a January that was far stronger than many expected, says managing director Henning Lauridsen of Eiendom Norge.

- House prices have risen 4.5 per cent in the first two months of the year. It is less than in the same period during the pandemic years 2021 and 2022, but more than the years before the pandemic. The housing price trend so far this year must be characterized as strong, he says.

- Without the easing of the lending regulations from New Year, developments in the housing market would probably look different, says Lauridsen.

Many homes sold

In February, 6,637 homes were sold in Norway, which is 7.2 per cent more than the corresponding month in 2022.

So far this year, 13,624 homes have been sold in Norway, which is 16.4 per cent more than in the same period in 2022.

In February, 6,647 homes were put up for sale in Norway, which is 0.4 per cent fewer than in the same month in 2022.

So far this year, 12,866 homes have been built in Norway, which is 4.1 per cent more than in the same period in 2022.

- Many homes were sold in February, and so far this year far more have been put up than at the same time in 2022, when the market was characterized by a very low supply as a result of the new disposals act. The sales volume is now almost on par with the time before the pandemic, says Lauridsen.

It took an average of 49 days to sell a home in February, down from 52 days in January. Oslo and Bergen have an accelerated sales time of 30 days. Hamar m/Stange had the longest selling time with 71 days.

- The sales time is decreasing slightly, and it is still possible to sell a property quickly in Norway, he says.

Higher interest, but strong Norwegian economy

Bergen had the strongest seasonally adjusted price development in February, where prices rose by 2.9 per cent.

Drammen and its surroundings had the weakest seasonally adjusted price development, with a seasonally adjusted decrease of 0.9 per cent.

The strongest development in the last 12 months has Kristiansand with an increase of 5.4 per cent, followed by Stavanger and its surroundings at 4.4 per cent and Ålesund and its surroundings at 2.7 per cent.

The weakest development over the past 12 months has Hamar with Stange with a decrease of 4.4 per cent, followed by Tromsø with a decrease of 2.1 per cent and Porsgrunn/Skien with a decrease of 1.9 per cent.

- So far this year, housing price developments have been stronger than we predicted in our forecast from December. We expect that the policy rate will be raised further in both March and June, which will weaken demand in the housing market and that the development over the year will therefore continue to be weak.

- On the positive side, things are far better in the Norwegian economy than what many imagined this autumn. With a good wage settlement in addition, it will be able to counteract some of the interest rate effect in the housing market over the course of the year, concludes Lauridsen.