Since the turn of the year, more and more key figures have shown signs that the Norwegian economy is surprisingly holding up. Inflation continues to remain at a very high level, unemployment remains low, production is growing and the housing market is strong.
Recently, several economists have therefore adjusted their expectations for the key interest rate. Now there are more people who expect three interest rate hikes before the summer, so that the key interest rate will end up at 3.5 per cent.
The uncertainty related to when the interest rate peak is reached is the big x-factor in the housing market, says DNB Eiendom manager Renate Sørestrand-Hansen.
– An additional interest rate jump will probably put a small damper on the price trend, but there is nothing to indicate that it will have any significant effect. The housing market is functioning well, and we believe it will remain at the same level going forward, she says in a press release.
Back at 2020 level
Sørestrand-Hansen also points out that housing price growth was strong in January, and feels that there has been high activity so far in February.
– We are now back at a level like in 2020 – i.e. a normal level with good activity, property sales that go quickly and that land around the asking price. There are many interested parties at the viewing and buyers who submit bids, she says.
Megeltoppen sees signs that the price decline has stopped, and expects that the price trend will be flat going forward.
In Oslo and other large cities, more and more homes are being sold above the asking price, according to Sørestrand-Hansen, who says there is the greatest demand for small apartments.
– There is still a good balance between what is posted and what is sold, but recently we see that a little less is posted and a little more is sold. It is often a sign of increasing demand, says Sørestrand-Hansen.
Waiting for price growth in Oslo
When the house price statistics for January were presented earlier this month, economists were surprised by the strength of the housing market.
– January is the strongest housing month, but this time house prices rose even more than normal. We see that the balance between the number of homes put up for sale is closer to the number of housing sales, which illustrates that activity has picked up well, said senior economist Sara Midtgaard at Handelsbanken to DN.
She believes that the bottom has been reached in Oslo, and that prices will go up more in the capital in the future than in the rest of the country. (Terms)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using links, which lead directly to our pages. Copying or other forms of use of all or part of the content may only take place with written permission or as permitted by law. For further terms see here.
