Angelica Bruksås Skoglund has been house hunting for quite some time. TV 2 meets her at a screening in an apartment on St. Hanshaugen in Oslo.
She has experienced high pressure at the screenings she has attended in January.
– There is a lot of competition to get the apartments, and what is out there is sold very quickly in my experience, says Bruksås Skoglund to TV 2.
The competition for the homes has led to high prices, and Bruksås Skoglund says you have to shell out a lot of money to find a place to live.
– You have to shell out at least three million for a small cottage, a one-bedroom. Especially here in Oslo, prices are high. Several of the homes I’ve looked at go above asking price, especially now after the New Year.
PRICE GROWTH: House prices rose by three per cent in January. Photo: Aleksander Myklebust / TV 2
– More on display in January
Estate agent Simon Barood at DNB Eiendom is the estate agent for the apartment Bruksås Skoglund is on display at. He has also noticed a lot of growth in the housing market in January.
– There are more people coming to the screening. They may have taken a little break in the last few months of last year. For the buyers, it can be felt that there is a bigger battle for the apartments that are outside, says Barood to TV 2.
THE BROKER: Estate agent Simon Barood thinks it is positive that more people came to viewings in January. Photo: Lage Ash / TV 2
Barood sold three homes in January. Two of the homes exceeded the asking price, while one went below the asking price.
– Everyone wants to buy in January
Eiendom Norge expected a price increase in the housing market of 1.5 per cent in January. Today they presented the figures.
Prices rose by 3 percent in January this year.
CEO of Eiendom Norge, Henning Lauridsen, tells TV 2 that prices tend to rise a lot in January. It is simply about more people choosing to start the year by buying a new home.
NORMAL INCREASE: Henning Lauridsen, managing director of Eiendom Norge, says that the price increase in January is in line with how January tends to be. Photo: Jonas Been Henriksen / TV 2
– It has something to do with our behaviour. Everyone wants to buy a home in January, while very few want to do so in December. Then there will be a big difference, says Lauridsen.
Lauridsen gives the changes in the lending regulations some of the credit for a strong January. From 1 January, the requirements to be able to take out a loan were reduced.
– Last year, the lending regulations meant that people got less and less loans. When it was changed at the turn of the year, people returned to how it was before the austerity measures, and that has helped. It was primarily people with normal incomes who were affected. Those with high incomes went completely free and had the same opportunities to buy a home, says a satisfied Lauridsen to TV 2.
Although the year starts with strong price growth, Eiendom Norge believes that the same growth cannot be expected in the months ahead.
– Interest rates are still rising, there is a lot of inflation and we expect that households will be slightly less able to afford it in the future. Then the prices will probably drop a little in the coming months.
