Recently, many cities in Norway have seen a large house price increase. After double interest rate increases on the key interest rate from Norges Bank twice, however, the trend has been slightly downward lately. Fresh figures from Eiendom Norge for August nevertheless show that house prices are rising in August, with an increase of 1.9 per cent. 0.6 per cent with seasonal adjustment. Growth is strongest in Kristiansand with an increase of 2.9 per cent in Kristiansand, and weakest in Bergen with 0.1 per cent. Price development so far this year is 9.1 per cent. – House prices rose sharply in August. It is common for house prices to rise in August, but the growth this year is strong for August, as the seasonally adjusted increase of 0.6 per cent shows, says CEO of Eiendom Norge, Henning Lauridsen. The average price for a home in Norway was NOK 4,601,168 at the end of August. Higher interest rates do not pay off After the key interest rate has been set “double”, i.e. 0.5 per cent twice, a fall in house prices was expected. This development has not shown itself yet. – The key interest rate was raised once again in August and is now back at the same level as before the corona pandemic. So far, the somewhat higher interest rates have not had an impact on the housing market, and that in itself is not surprising in view of the fact that interest rate increases have historically been slower than interest rate reductions. In the longer term, the interest rate will have an effect, he says. Lauridsen says that they view the Norwegian economy positively, but that they are concerned about one development. – So far, things are going well in the Norwegian economy and unemployment is low. However, we are concerned about the sky-high electricity prices, which will both have an impact on households’ finances and liquidity and the Norwegian economy. Even after the new electricity subsidy from September onwards, electricity prices in southern Norway will be much higher than they have historically been, says Lauridsen.
ttn-69