So far in 2022, house prices in Norway have risen by 8.8 per cent.

The average price for a home in Norway was NOK 4,568,840 at the end of June.

- House prices in Norway fell in June, but the underlying price development was positive with a seasonally adjusted growth of 0.3 per cent. There has been a very strong development in the housing market in the first half of the year and housing prices have risen by as much as 8.8 per cent so far this year, says Henning Lauridsen, CEO of Eiendom Norge.

- In 2022, there has been strong growth in house prices along the coast from Drammen to Stavanger, and we expect that Sørlandet and the Stavanger region in particular will have large growth in house prices due to the high activity in the oil industry now and in the future, says Lauridsen.

- In June, Norges Bank raised the interest rate by 0.5 percentage points. The experience from the previous period with interest rate increases in 2018 and 2019 is that it takes time before the increased borrowing costs manifest themselves in house prices. In addition, the Norwegian economy is in high gear and there are significant challenges on the supply side of the housing market. This means that we do not think house prices will slow down much in the future, says Lauridsen.

Great activity in June

In June, 10,883 homes were sold in Norway, which is 9.1 per cent less than in the corresponding month in 2021.

So far this year, 49,702 homes have been sold in Norway. That is 10.9 per cent less than in the same period last year.

In June, 11,299 homes were put up for sale in Norway, which is 4.6 per cent fewer than in the same month in 2021.

So far this year, 53,967 homes have been put up for sale. That is 8 per cent less than in the same period last year.

- Many homes were sold in Norway in June. Even though fewer have been sold than in June 2021 and 2020, the volume compared to the years before the pandemic is large for June to be, says Lauridsen.

- The supply side in the second-hand housing market has continued to strengthen through June, but the sales time is much faster than in previous years, which means that the number of unsold per day is historically low, he says.

It took an average of 25 days to sell a home in June, down from 26 days in May. Drammen has the fastest sales time in the area with 15 days. Tromsø had the longest sales time with 29 days.

Property Norway's forecast for the future

Kristiansand had the strongest seasonally adjusted price development in June, with an increase of 0.9 per cent. Asker and Bærum had the weakest seasonally adjusted price development with a seasonally adjusted decrease of 1 per cent.

The strongest development so far this year is Kristiansand with an increase of 12.6 per cent, followed by Kristiansand with 12.1 per cent and Tønsberg m / Færder with 11.9 per cent.

Asker and Bærum and Romerike have the weakest development so far in 2022, with an increase of 5.7 per cent.

- Before Christmas 2021, Eiendom Norge forecast a 6 per cent rise in house prices in the first half of the year. The result is a strong 8.8 percent, ie significantly stronger than we and many of us thought at the beginning of the year, says Lauridsen.

- Since the New Year, the macro picture has changed significantly with the reopening after the corona pandemic and very strong growth in the Norwegian economy. The upturn is particularly driven by increased activity in the oil and gas sector. In addition, the cost of housing construction has continued to rise on top of a historic increase in 2021. This, together with the new Disposal Act, has exacerbated the challenges Norway and especially Oslo have had on the supply side of the new housing market.

- Due to this, we do not expect house price growth in Norway to slow down immediately, even though the key policy rate will continue to rise this autumn, Lauridsen concludes.