– This is starting to get sad – E24

– It’s wild when you think about it, says real estate agent Marius Aasen in Aktiv to E24.

The 16 square meter loft apartment located on Ring 2 at the bottom of Sagene in Oslo was designed with a relatively new price estimate of NOK 2.5 million.

However, five people entered the bidding round and raised the price by another 300,000 kronor. This week, the small apartment sold for 2.8 million, equivalent to 175,000 crowns per square meter.

The house’s own seller gave “only” 2,150,000 crowns for the apartment at the end of 2019, the broker claims. It gives a price growth of 30 percent in just over a year.

– I can hardly pay anything

Over time, several brokers in Oslo have reported very strong price pressure on smaller items.

Aasen believes this is an indication that young buyers with regular wages are being pushed out of the market:

– The market for a room has become very difficult. Unfortunately, these small apartments are no longer being built. New homes over 40 square meters can only be dreamed of by individual home buyers, unless they have a million in salary, says Aasen.

– This is starting to get sad. Even those who have a stable job with a regular annual salary of 500,000 kronor, can hardly afford anything central in Oslo now, even if they get a maximum mortgage. That’s absurd.

The much discussed Nurse Index assumes a mortgage of NOK 2,690,000 and that NOK 300,000 is provided in equity.

– It’s horrible to think about

This gives a purchase price of just under three million, which is enough to buy a fraction of the houses in Oslo.

Many graduates have to settle for a lower housing budget. The calculation is based on a ten-year-old skilled nurse with an annual salary of almost 580,000 kr.

Aasen says that one-room items have long been the entry ticket for single buyers who wanted a home in central Oslo. But when “everyone” flocks to these houses, it also creates additional price pressure, meaning that even the smallest houses become a distant dream for more and more people.

– It’s horrible to think about that, says the runner.

In January, Oslo prices rose 2.6 percent and the average home has become 13 percent more expensive in twelve months.

I think more people can escape Oslo

According to the Norwegian Real Estate Association, the supply of second-hand homes in Oslo is “below half normal levels”.

Director Carl Geving says prices are also being pushed by too low a supply of new homes. And this is especially true for new homes for first-time buyers, which in practice don’t exist, he notes.

– Apartments are not built in sizes that young people can afford, Geving tells E24, referring to the requirements of the apartment standard.

He believes that fierce competition for some items has caused a “very unfortunate price spike” in the capital, which he fears will continue throughout the winter.

– The average price of a house in Oslo is now close to six million. Clearly, this price pressure hits first-time buyers especially, Geving says.

Half price in Drammen

– And I will not be surprised that more people in the future choose to escape Oslo when they settle down, says the main corridor.

– Where should they escape?

– Drammen! It’s a very nice city where housing is much cheaper and it only takes half an hour to get to Oslo by train, says Geving.

Eiendom Norge’s January statistics show that each square meter of housing in Oslo now costs NOK 79,754 on average.

Meanwhile, the price per square meter is NOK 40,713 in Drammen, that is about half.

– Skiing also has very affordable house prices, and when Follobanen is over, it takes just ten minutes by train. Lillestrøm and Lørenskog are also good alternatives, Geving suggests.