Housing prices may finally be settling down

The high price of housing in Norway may have peaked, at least for now. Real estate brokers report fewer prospective buyers at open house showings, and sales figures for March were mostly flat after months and years of strong increases. Average prices for single family homes were up just 0.3 percent, reported the real estate [...]

State loans pose new debt risks

Stricter borrowing rules in Norway have left higher-income groups struggling to get a home loan through commercial banks, and led to a rush of new applicants to the state-backed housing financier Husbanken. Its loans are easier to obtain, and that’s setting off new fears of lending that’s too risky. Husbanken’s mortgages, traditionally called a startlån (literally, [...]

Household debt hits record levels

Norwegian homeowners’ debt levels have skyrocketed over the last eight years, with some now paying down mortgages that are three times larger than average loan amounts in 2004, according to fresh data. On average, mortgage amounts are up 55 percent in just five years, and consumer debt has risen as well, but Norwegians are still [...]

Property prices skyrocket in Oslo

Not only are prices high for houses and apartments in Oslo, the price of vacant residential lots has nearly doubled in the past two years and now are running more than five times the national average, according to state statistics bureau SSB. Lots now cost an average NOK 2,704 per square meter, up from NOK [...]

Good times likely to roll into 2013

Norway’s strong, oil-fueled economy looks set to stay that way in 2013, according to the country’s biggest bank, DNB. Its analysts and economists predict low interest rates, another rise in consumption and more economic growth throughout next year. The growth rate may be slower, at 2.4 percent instead of this year’s 3.5 percent, but that [...]

Worries soar along with prices

Oslo has confirmed its dubious distinction as having the most expensive real estate in already-expensive Scandinavia, with housing prices now running twice as high as in Copenhagen. Central bank bosses worry about high debt levels, but most real estate experts think prices will rise again next year. The average price per square meter in Oslo [...]

Housing prices slipped again

There were more signs this week that Norway’s high housing prices may finally be flattening out. Average prices in October fell slightly for the second month in a row, not by much but enough to spark speculation that the hot real estate market is indeed cooling off. The national real estate brokers’ association reported a [...]

State loses final appeal of land leases

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has rejected an appeal by the Norwegian government to retain its law restricting landowners’ rights to adjust rates when leasing out their property through so-called festet (land lease) contracts. The ruling cements an earlier court victory for Norwegian landowners, who had been prevented from changing the terms of [...]

Norway tops in kitchen remodeling

Norwegians are fixing up their kitchens like never before. Armed with purchasing power and a strong willingness to invest in their homes, Norwegians are spending huge amounts on high-quality kitchen cabinets, ultra-modern and expensive appliances and fancy countertops. “The market is setting new records, with an overall increase of 10 percent for the first half [...]

Housing prices flatten out

A decline in the numbers of prospective buyers attending open house showings, and a rise in what brokers call “buyer selectivity,” seemed to finally lead to a slight decline in Norwegian residential real estate prices last month. After years of constantly rising, sellers are now being told to have more “realistic” price expectations. Average prices [...]

New homes full of deficiencies

Norwegians are paying sky-high prices for new homes these days, but all too often aren’t getting what they paid for. New figures from the state consumer protection agency show that fully seven out of 10 new homes are sold with construction mistakes. The number of complaints from buyers of brand new housing units has tripled [...]

High housing prices, low property tax

Housing prices rose again in Norway last month, to a level that now even worries real estate brokers. Homeowners and buyers, though, enjoy among the lowest property taxes in the world and politicians seem reluctant to raise or even impose them any time soon. Norway is generally known as a high-tax country, with punitive taxes [...]

Housing prices rising the highest

Norwegian housing prices have risen higher than anywhere else in the world, according to new statistics from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). They’re up nearly 25 percent in the past five years and have nearly doubled in the past decade. The figures, reported on Thursday by newspaper Aftenposten, confirm what many would-be [...]

No takers yet for ‘royal’ home

Norway’s Princess Märtha Louise plans to move to London with her family this fall, but she and her author husband Ari Behn haven’t yet managed to rent out their home outside Oslo. Real estate brokers suspect the price listed on rental ads is too high. The rental rate of NOK 45,000 (USD 7,500) per month [...]

Rapid growth hits housing market

It took Norway a few thousand years to reach a population of just 5 million. Another  million, though, is expected just 17 years from now and cities like Oslo are struggling to keep up with demand for housing, as real estate prices soar. Figures released recently by state statistics bureau SSB suggest that Norway’s population [...]

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