In Finland, purchasing an apartment entails purchasing stock in a limited liability housing company. Therefore, you aren’t purchasing real estate.
Instead, purchasing a single-family home typically entails purchasing real estate (a plot of land with a home and possibly additional buildings on it.
Despite the pandemic, Finland’s housing market is still expanding. According to Statistics Finland, the average price of older homes in Greater Helsinki increased by 6.68 percent between Q1 and Q3 2021, following increases of 6.08 percent in 2020, 0.76 percent in 2019, 3.26 percent in 2018, and 2.04 percent in 2017. This increase was 4.38 percent inflation-adjusted, bringing the price to €4,137 (US$4,683) per square meter (sq. m.). In Q3, prices increased somewhat from quarter to quarter by 0.53 percent (-0.07 percent adjusted for inflation).
One-family house prices in Finland
The average housing price per square meter in Finland was 1,767 euros in the second quarter of 2021, according to Statistics Finland.
But the size of the city in which a house is located affects the price of that house. For instance, the average price in the larger metro area was considerably more than the national average. There were 3 728 euros.
But prices in big cities with more than 100,000 residents are higher. The average cost per square meter in these cities was 2 641 euros. We fall short of the national average, however, in the smaller cities. In the second quarter of this year, the average price there was 1352 euros.
Additionally, prices differ according to the region of the nation. The costliest real estate is in southern Finland. There, the cost per square meter was on average 2 061 €. West Finland has the second-highest average price. In the second quarter of 2021, the average price per square meter there was 1.549 €.
Finland’s northern and eastern regions are the most affordable. The average cost of a home is 1,313 euros in the north and 1,306 euros in the east.
Finland’s one-family home price trends
One-family homes cost 8.3% more in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year, according to Statistics Finland. Prices have risen by 3.1% compared to the first three months of this year.
Larger cities experienced more price rises. Prices in cities with a population of more than 100,000 have increased 13.3% from the same time last year. At the same time, property prices had only increased by 6.6% over the previous year in cities with fewer than 20 000 residents.
Since last year, prices for single-family homes have increased most in southern Finland. House prices in southern Finland are currently 11.6% higher than they were in the second quarter of 2020.
The increases were 2.6% in eastern Finland, 7% in western Finland, and 4.9 percent in northern Finland.
Property transactions rising strongly
Strong demand is still being supported by extremely low-interest rates. According to Statistics Finland, overall transactions for ancient homes increased significantly by 17.5 percent year over year to 60,033 units in the first three quarters of 2021, following an increase of 11.8 percent in 2020. In the same time frame:
- Greater Helsinki old house purchases climbed 13.1% year over year to 17,678 units in 2021
- Older house sales jumped 19.3% y-o-y to 42,041 units, after growing 11.9% in 2020
By kind of property
Transactions for terraced homes increased by 16 percent year over year to 19,488 units in the first three quarters of 2021 after rising by 16.5 percent in 2020.
For apartment blocks, transactions increased by 18.4% y-o-y to 40,373 units, following a 9.6% increase in 2020.
