Norway’s Housing Market: December 2023 Decline and 2024 Forecast

Explore the recent decline in Norway's housing market in December 2023, with insights from managing director Henning Lauridsen and a forecasted growth of 4% in 2024. Visit for more details.

Norway's housing market experienced a slight decline in December 2023, with house prices falling by 0.9 per cent. However, when adjusted for seasonal variations, there was a modest increase of 0.2 per cent. The average price for a home in Norway at the end of December was NOK 4,218,068. Despite the decline in December, the year 2023 ended with a forecasted slight rise of 0.5 per cent, making housing more affordable in light of the 4 to 5 per cent growth in consumer prices.

Norway's Housing Market: December 2023 Decline and 2024 Forecast

Managing director Henning Lauridsen of Eiendom Norge noted that the second-hand housing market remained stable, with a similar number of homes sold in 2023 as in 2022. Looking ahead to 2024, Lauridsen expects a good growth of 4 per cent in house prices, with the anticipated January effect leading to a strong rise in the first month of the year.

In December, 3,018 homes were sold in Norway, a 0.5 percent decrease from the previous year, while 3,199 homes were put up for sale, a 2.7 percent decrease from the same month in 2022. The turnover in the second-hand housing market in 2023 remained at the level of 2022, with a similar volume as the years before the pandemic. Additionally, there was a decrease in the number of unsold properties on the market in December.

The average time to sell a home in December increased to 62 days, with Stavanger and the surrounding area having the shortest sales time at 34 days, and Tromsø having the longest at 111 days. Asker and Bærum experienced the strongest seasonally adjusted price development in December, with a 2 per cent increase, while Hamar/m Stange had the weakest seasonally adjusted price development, with a decrease of 0.2 per cent.

Looking ahead, Lauridsen expressed concern about the new housing market, anticipating the consequences of the sales failure in 2025 and 2026 when historically few new homes will be completed in Norway. He also highlighted the large gap in estimates for housing investment from Norges Bank and Statistics Norway, suggesting that Norges Bank may need to reassess its forecast and interest rate path.

While the housing market in Norway experienced a slight decline in December 2023, the overall stability and forecasted growth in 2024 indicate a positive outlook for the industry.