– It’s very awkward. I have envisioned gradually buying a flat myself. So that my salary can only buy a quarter is a bit boring to know, says Fagerheim Sandal. Inger Louise Fagerheim Sandal works as a nurse in the psychiatric emergency department at Sandviken Hospital in Bergen. She has had a permanent job there since the summer of 2022. The 25-year-old is surprised at how few opportunities she has on the housing market in Bergen. Figures from the nurse index show that she only gets funding to buy 26.1 per cent of the houses on the market. There are few, but not as few as in Oslo. A nurse can buy 1.5 per cent of the houses there. The nurse index The nurse index measures what proportion of the sold homes a single nurse gets financing to buy. If the nurse can buy a high proportion of the homes in a city, house prices in the city are low. If the nurse cannot buy any of the homes in a city, it is problematically expensive. The index has been prepared for several selected cities in Norway over time. Interest, income, tax and house prices are the most important components in the nurse index. None of them are constant. To construct the nursing index historically, the index makers have obtained historical home loan interest rates from Statistics Norway, historical household budget years from SIFO, historical tax rates from the Norwegian Tax Agency and historical income figures from KS and Statistics Norway. One of the assumptions made is that the loan customers must accept a 5 percent increase in the mortgage interest rate and repay the loan over 30 years. From 1 January 2017, Norwegian loan customers must receive a maximum of five times gross income in total debt burden. Source: Eiendom Norge Not doing it for the pay The nurse is currently renting a flat, and hopes that with reasonable savings in the future she will be able to buy something she can own. Fagerheim Sandal says that she chose to become a nurse to be able to work with people. – So you didn’t do it for the pay? – Absolutely not. If you focus mostly on salary, then the nursing profession is not for you, laughs Fagerheim Sandal. The nurse adds that it is not only nurses who are struggling to get into the housing market. This applies to new graduates in general. She says she sometimes thinks that the pay is not right in relation to the amount of work and effort. – You work a lot, both night and day, and find yourself in many difficult situations. So the fact that you get the salary you get can be seen as unfair, says Fagerheim Sandal. Inger Louise has worked permanently as a nurse since June 2022. Photo: Private – The area has a price problem Eiendom Noreg has measured how large a proportion of the sold residential buildings a nurse with an average annual income can get financing for since 2005. The index is based on last year’s average annual salary for nurses: NOK 640,000. The nursing profession is suitable because the income represents a typically good Norwegian income, and is to a small extent dependent on the economic cycle. Analysis and modeling director Anders Francke Lund at Eiendom Noreg says this is about the housing market in the various cities, and not the salary. – If the housing is not available for the good, Norwegian income, which is represented in the nurse, then the area has a price problem, he says. – What is the most important thing that can be done to ensure that those with ordinary incomes have access to a larger part of the housing estates? – Now there have been improvements in the loan regulations. It helps. Especially for those whose incomes are lower than the nurse’s. It is the simplest in the short picture. There is a great variety in different places in Norway. Photo: Eiendom Norge Has become more difficult In Oslo, a nurse can get financing for about one in a hundred homes. A two-hour drive further south, in Porsgrunn, you have the opportunity to buy about 54 out of a hundred houses. It is one of the cities where it is most affordable to buy a home. – In general, housing prices are not a problem in Norway, as we measure it, says Lund. Over time, housing prices in Norway have risen steadily, while the nurse index has varied more. The bottom listing was during the financial crisis, when an average Norwegian nurse could only buy around 8 percent of homes for sale. In recent years, it has become more and more difficult for nurses to get funding. The nurse index is now just under 30 per cent nationally. In recent years, it has become more and more difficult for nurses to get funding.
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Nurse Inger Louise (25) can only buy a quarter of apartments in Bergen – news Vestland
