Many people want to live in Oslo, but the prices are stiff. And the square meters may become even more expensive in the near future. In 2026, it is estimated that there will only be 490 new apartments in the capital. It is far from the 3,000 new homes needed each year. – It makes plots scarce, and we know what happens with scarce properties, prices go up. Then Oslo will become a city for the rich, says Bård Folke Fredriksen, director of NBBL. RIKE: Bård Folke Fredriksen, director of NBBL, believes that Oslo should not only be a city for those with money or parental help. Photo: Anders Fehn Fewer year by year The figures come from the company Plot AI. Every month they analyze the new construction market. It was Estate Nyheter that first mentioned the figures. The figures are for completed apartments, i.e. homes are ready for occupancy. In 2024, 1,861 of them are expected, but then it plummets. All the way down to 490 apartments in 2026. At the same time, a number of analyzes predict that house prices in Oslo will rise dramatically in the coming years. And here there is a common thread. Because how much they rise is linked to how many homes are built. Simply put: price is the result of supply and demand. But fixing the offer bit is more complicated than you think. In Oslo, there is limited space and many rules that must be followed. Stuck in a paper queue Applications must be submitted, plots must be regulated, shovels must be in the ground. It takes time and there are many steps in the process. But several people point to one stick in particular that stops the residential wheels. – The proceedings take too long. In other words, the process of making a site ready for construction, says Bård Folke Fredriksen in NBBL. PROCESS: The road from foundation to finished home takes time. And the process starts long before the first shovel is in the ground. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB news meets him outside an empty building in Oslo. The owners have wanted to build homes here for several years, but the application process is delayed. Meanwhile, the plot is collapsing. – This is just one of several examples of long processing times. If prices are to be reduced, the plots must be made ready for construction much faster than today, he says. At the same time, previous calculations show that Oslo needs at least 3,000 new homes each year to keep up with population growth. That goal is unlikely to be reached this year. And probably not the next ones either, if the prediction is correct. The city council with big ambitions It is the city council in Oslo that gives permission for new projects and regulates the plots. Ambitions are high. – We have ambitions to regulate 3,000 homes a year, and we are working hard to achieve that, both this year and in the years to come, says city councilor for urban development James Stove Lorentzen (H). TEMPO: City councilor James Stove Lorentzen emphasizes that the builders themselves must keep up the pace in order to build enough. Photo: Bård Nafstad The city council says they cannot build the homes, but will help reduce the processing time for new plots. – Having said that, Oslo’s housing market is completely dependent on developers submitting new plans and keeping up the pace in the completion of new projects, says Lorentzen. Published 10.06.2024, at 22.44
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Tracks very few new homes in Oslo – Greater Oslo
