Leieprisene faller

Leiepriser in Norway fell by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to property company Eiendom Norge. The housing market remains hot, but the largest pressure has eased for now, says Henning Lauridsen, Eiendom Norge's managing director. Despite the decline in the third quarter, lease prices have risen by 4.5% so far this year, surpassing the general price increase (KPI) in Norway of 3.3%.

Yearly lease price growth remains significant and larger than KPI growth. If lease price growth doesn't slow, it will be difficult for the central bank to reach its 2% inflation target, Lauridsen warns. The statistics measure lease prices in Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim, and Stavanger. Trondheim is the only city among the four with a 0.6% increase in lease prices this quarter.

Bergen saw the largest drop with a 0.9% decline. At the end of the third quarter, there were 3,608 lease properties on Finn.no, a decrease from 3,897 in the previous quarter. Of these 3,608, 2,032 are in Oslo, 533 in Bergen, 504 in Trondheim, and 539 in Stavanger and Sandnes. The number of lease properties on Finn.no has been higher in the past two quarters compared to previous years.

Despite this, the housing market remains under pressure, and high lease prices make many look beyond urban centers to find affordable housing, says Lauridsen.