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PROPERTY

How much does an apartment in Norway cost?

Most people's first step on the property ladder will be an apartment. However, rising house prices have made buying a flat in Norway increasingly difficult over the past few years. 

Published: 11 April 2024 11:56 CEST
Pictured are streets with wooden houses in Trondheim.
The cost of an apartment could vary massively, depending on where you choose to live in Norway. Pictured are streets with wooden houses in Trondheim. Photo by Lucrezia De Agrò on Unsplash

The average home price in Norway is around 4,581,993 kroner, according to the industry organisation Real Estate Norway. 

Apartments are typically cheaper than detached homes, especially in larger cities where they are more common. 

Flats are around 70 square meters on average in cities and 72 square meters in the rest of the country, according to figures from the Norwegian Homeowners Association. 

House prices in Norway have skyrocketed over the past five years. 

Five years ago, the average cost of a property in Norway per square meter was 43,000 kroner. These days, this has risen to more than 54,000 kroner when using figures from the price index from property firm Krogsveen. 

Their calculator uses figures and data from Real Estate Norway, Finn.no, and Eiendomsverdi AS. 

When multiplying the square metre price of property in Norway by the average size of a flat, the average cost of an apartment in Norway would, therefore, be around 3.79 million kroner. 

A quick search on property listing site Finn.no shows that thousands of properties in Norway are listed with an asking price less than this. 

In Norway, you can only get a mortgage for up to 85 percent of the property’s value. This means you would need a deposit of around 568,500 kroner. 

READ ALSO: What foreign residents in Norway need to know to get a mortgage

If you were to borrow the maximum mortgage rate of 85 percent, or 3.2 million kroner, you would be paying between 18,000 and 19,000 kroner monthly on your mortgage over a 30-year period. 

However, if you want a home closer to the average of 70 square metres, your options become more limited.

This is especially true in Oslo. This is because while the average price per square metre nationally is 54,000 kroner, its 94,171 kroner for the capital.

Therefore, when you multiply the square metre price by the average size, a home in the capital should cost around 6.59 million kroner. 

With this kind of budget, there would be several hundred properties across the capital larger than 70 square meters for you to choose from. Most of these would be apartments, but it would be possible to get terraced, semi-detached and detached houses at this price point. 

To get a mortgage in the capital at this price point you would need a deposit of 988,500 kroner. This equates to monthly mortgage payments of between 31,000 and 32,000 kroner when borrowing the maximum amount.  

When purchasing a flat there are also other costs associated too. Plenty of apartments in Norway belong to a housing association. You typically buy into the joint debt of the housing association, and there will also be monthly fees to pay too. 

READ MORE: The key things you need to know about Norwegian housing associations

The cost of buying in Norway’s other big cities was mostly in line with the national average, which is undoubtedly pushed up by the prices in Oslo. 

In Trondheim, the cost of property is around 55,807 kroner per sqaure metre, meaning it would cost around 3.9 million (and in many cases less) to buy a apartment in the city. 

Property per square metre was actually below the average in Bergen. There, it costs 53,976 kroner per sqaure metre to get on the property ladder. In total, this means you could expect to pay 3.77 million kroner for a decently sized property. 

Stavanger was considerably cheaper than the national square metre average at 45,829 kroner per sqaure metre. This meant that 3.2 million kroner could get you a property of more than 70 square meters in the city. 

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PROPERTY

The key things you need to know about purchasing property in rural Norway 

Whether it's time to up sticks and get away from Norway's cities, or you've always dreamed of owning a holiday home in the country's stunning rural areas, there is some key info you need to know. 

Published: 26 April 2024 15:21 CEST
The key things you need to know about purchasing property in rural Norway 

This article was based on several questions from a reader. The Local Norway aims to answer readers’ questions, even if it isn’t used for an article. So if there’s something you’ve wondered whether it’s practical or cultural, you can drop us a line at [email protected] 

It’s no surprise that Norway’s countryside attracts so many admiring glances from across the world as, depending on where you end up, you could be within an hour’s drive of fjords, mountains, and forests. 

The prices explained 

The website Finn.no lists almost every property for sale in the country. After a few searches, it will quickly become apparent that homes in rural Norway seem like excellent value. 

Using figures from the property firm Krogsveen, the average cost of property per square metre in Oslo is 89,000 kroner, the national average is 50,674 kroner, and in Møre og Romsdal in western Norway, the average cost is much lower at 28,722 kroner. 

Møre og Romsdal is one of Norway’s more remote counties, home to stunning regions like Sunnmøre and Sunnfjord.

READ ALSO: How much does an apartment in Norway cost?

This illustrates how much more you can get for your money in rural parts of Norway compared to elsewhere.  

There are some reasons for the price differences. Firstly, some homes in rural areas require full-time residence. If you plan on moving full-time, this won’t be an issue. 

If you are after a holiday home, this will be a barrier. Prices are typically higher in areas that are popular with leisure property owners. 

Some of the cheaper homes will be “fixer uppers”, even if you want to keep the home’s original charm. Bathrooms, kitchens, plumbing and electrics can all be incredibly expensive. 

Furthermore, investing in these areas of the home is unlikely to directly increase the property’s value due to the low demand. 

Farms should be avoided 

The charm of a Norwegian farm is difficult to avoid, lots of room, a large welcoming home and bright red farm buildings. 

However, these buildings are worth avoiding unless you intend to use the property for farming. 

Rules on the ownership of agricultural properties date back more than 1,000 years, and there are a few key things to be aware of. 

Firstly, you will need to live on the property full-time and typically use it for its intended purpose: farming. You will also need to apply for a license to own the property. This is part of a government act to protect agricultural land. Then, there are a number of special rules to ensure that some farms remain in a family line. 

Farming in Norway isn’t a particularly profitable venture either, so taking over a farm may not be as attractive once all the rules are laid out. 

The rules for foreigners buying rural properties 

Norway’s property market has no restrictions on whether foreigners can buy property. 

This means you can buy a property in Norway’s stunning rural regions. However, there are several practical obstacles. 

Most practical issues don’t apply to full-time residents. 

However, non-residents can’t get a Norwegian mortgage as they have ties and income to the country. 

Furthermore, not having an electronic ID and identity number will make it quite difficult to put in bids on homes, set up utility bills for the property, and get a bank account to pay these bills. 

If you manage to purchase a place, you can obtain a D-number from the Norwegian Tax Administration to try to open bank accounts and pay bills. 

Other practical info

For starters, you will likely need access to a car if you buy a place in the countryside. 

Owning a car will be crucial for reaching amenities, and depending on how remote you choose to go, you could end up a 30-minute drive away or need a car suitable for tackling difficult terrain to reach main roads. 

You’ll also depend on a car to get to and from work and to ferry kids to school and back. 

Houses in rural areas may also have much more expensive running costs. Older, larger properties are notorious for sky-high energy bills in the winter. 

Of course, finding a suitable job to match your career ambitions can be much more difficult in rural areas than in the bigger cities. 

READ MORE: The downsides of life in the Norwegian mountains you should know about

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