Today, economists expect Norges Bank to raise the key interest rate once again, as the central bank has already done seven times since last autumn. In the same period, the proportion of first-time buyers who have bought a home together has risen. – We have seen ourselves forced to join forces to enter the housing market. Coming in early seemed like a very smart thing to do, says 24-year-old Erling Solbu Kleiven. Together with his old friend Mads Widerøe Krogh, he is today moving into his new 57 square meter three-room apartment in the center of Oslo, a stone’s throw from Oslo Central Station. The apartment is located in Ebbels gate, a few hundred meters from Oslo Central Station. With shared debt, the total price was close to NOK 4.9 million. Photo: Johan B. Sættem Even with a permanent job, they did not get enough loans from the bank to buy a home as centrally located in Oslo as they wanted. But they were able to solve the requirement for equity with the help of financial support from their parents. – Both Mads and I have a payment plan for our parents at the same time as we have a payment plan for the bank we borrow money from. We felt it necessary to borrow money from two different sources since we did not get sufficient loans even from the bank to buy a home where we wanted, says Erling. The three-room apartment the friends have bought is spread over two floors. Due to high joint debt and financial help from home, the bank loan is manageable. Photo: Anthony Hopkins Photo – The apartment is fantastic, with a large and open, cool solution, says Mads. Waiting for even more people to buy together in the future Today, the Norwegian Association of Estate Agents publishes the joint buyer index for the third quarter. It shows that 61.1 per cent of first-time buyers from July to September bought a home together with another person. That is 2.6 percentage points more than in the same period last year, and slightly lower than in the second quarter. – We have seen that the proportion of people who buy together has risen since house prices have reached a high level and interest rates started to rise, says Carl O. Geving. He is the managing director of the Norwegian Association of Estate Agents. – There is a certain uncertainty in the market now, which makes us think that more people will probably choose to buy a home together with another, says Carl O. Geving, managing director of the Norwegian Association of Estate Agents. Photo: Johan B. Sættem The report has been prepared by Socio-Economic Analysis for the Norwegian Estate Agents’ Association and Ambita. – The figures we are presenting today have a lag of a couple of months, they are as of the third quarter. As we now approach the turn of the year, we believe that the proportion who buy their first home together with another will rise, until the house price correction will offset much of the interest rate increases, he says. The typical co-buyer often buys the first home together with a partner, with friends or parents. Erling and Mads were on 20–30 viewings from July until they bought a home in September. – We set up screenings every Sunday, says Mads. Photo: Johan B. Sættem Fewer joint purchases in the past decade The number of first-time buyers who buy together with others has fallen over the past decade, from around 65 percent in 2008 to 58 percent at the beginning of 2021. According to the report, the decline is probably primarily due to low and falling interest rates and high income growth, and has come despite significant house price growth. – In addition, there are probably quite a few who get help from their parents to enter the housing market. But we don’t have figures for that after 2018. At that time, 50 per cent received help in Oslo, and 40 per cent nationally. But we will get new figures on that next year from Statistics Norway, says Geving.
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Several people have bought a home together since interest rates started to rise – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
