06-05-2025
Why property buyers in Norway should brace for a hot market this summer
A sharp rise in mortgage applications, coupled with strong year-to-date price growth and faster sales, suggests prospective homebuyers in Norway should brace for increased competition in the coming months.
"We are seeing a significant increase in mortgage applications," Odd Hultmann, Director of Private Markets at Nordea, told the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (
NRK
) on Tuesday.
"The week after Easter was on par with the peak weeks earlier this year," Hultmann added.
"Compared to the same period last year, the number of applications is up 40 percent. This indicates very high demand in the housing market heading into the summer."
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A hotter market
That rising demand is already being reflected in transaction volumes.
Some 9,900 homes were sold in April - slightly fewer than last year - but sales for the year are up 18.6 percent overall, with 36,432 homes sold by the end of April.
Buyers are acting quickly, too: homes now spend an average of 47 days on the market, down from 50 days in March.
In Bergen in western Norway, the pace is even more intense – homes there are selling in just 16 days.
According to the most recent statistics published by the industry organisation Real Estate Norway (Eiendom Norge), home prices in Norway have risen 6.7 percent so far in 2025, bringing the average price to 4,873,834 kroner.
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While Oslo and Asker/Bærum saw relatively weak performance – with a seasonally adjusted decline of 1 percent in the latter – Stavanger stood out with 11.1 percent growth since January.
Porsgrunn/Skien also posted strong gains, with a 1 percent seasonally adjusted increase in April.
"The moderate housing price development from March continued in April, while the development was weak in Oslo and Asker/Bærum," Henning Lauridsen, CEO of Eiendom Norge, said
in a press release
.
Still, the broader picture suggests persistent upward pressure on prices, especially in high-growth regions like big cities.
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