While the summer heat has slowed down real estate deals, according to experts in the field, business is still faring better than the average over the last five years.
According to the Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies (KVKL), the slight drop in real estate transactions can be attributed to the unusually hot summer.
Sales of older apartments dropped during the first two quarters by two percent over the previous year, according to KVKL. For newer flats, sales dropped by 9 percent.
According to real estate agents surveyed by Yle, sales of older apartments was nevertheless 3 percent higher than the average for the previous year. New apartment sales were 22 percent above of the average for the last five years.
Only a slight slowdown
”Talk of the market slightly slowing down can be put down to the extreme heatwave this summer,” says Jockum Andersin, regional director at Aktia Kiinteistönvälitys realtors. "But sales are still very much in tune with the times," he adds.
During the first half of this year 33, 700 apartments were sold, which is 5.4 percent above the average of the previous five years.
”The volume of sales has varied this summer. It’s true that the trade could be more lively during the market upturn and during a time of low interest rates, but the overall figures don’t indicate any significant changes over the previous year," says Maria-Elena Cowell, chief executive officer at the Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies.
The prices of older flats continued to rise in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Meanwhile, in other parts of the country, price increases were less pronounced.