Prospective homeowners were more eager to shop around for older homes in 2019 than in the previous year, according to new data about the local property market.
However the spike in interest in property ownership was not enough to inflate prices in the market, according to Marina Salenius, deputy CEO of Kiinteistömaailma real estate firm.
"Price increases have been moderate. Based on prices this year, there is no housing price bubble in Finland, not even in growth centres," Salenius observed.
The realtor noted that 2019 was a good year for home sales -- although the market was quiet at the beginning of the year, properties began to move later on.
"Things picked up in May and summer was active too. The growth continued to the end of the year," Salenius explained.
Between January and November this year, sales of older homes rose 3.2 percent compared to the same period last year, another major real estate firm, Huoneistokeskus, said in a statement.
Altogether, homeowners purchased 1,778 more properties in 2019 than in the previous year.
Steady growth forecast in 2020
The bulk of the growth in residential property sales came from the Helsinki region. Additionally, house hunters were more active in Oulu, Porvoo, Kuopio and Jyväskylä this year than in 2018.
Salenius said that next year looks set to be a busy one for the real estate market, saying that there will be at least the same number of deals next month as there were in January 2019.
Real estate firm Huoneistokeskus business director Anu-Elina Hintsa echoed Salenius' assessment of the market.
"Next year will be more or less similar to this year. The same trends will be evident. There’ll be sales in big cities and prices will rise a bit, but I don’t dare promise a stronger year if the fundamentals of the macro-economy remain the same," Hintsa said.
Big city growth, slow sales elsewhere
Residential property sales were brisker in large cities than elsewhere. The timeline for home sales shortened in the capital region by a few days during the year, but stretched by a corresponding period elsewhere.
"Home sales were buoyant in growth centres. People have the desire and the ability to change locations and they move to these cities. Prices rose somewhat in these cities. Then there are cities known as negative migration locations. Sales are more challenging there," Salenius noted.
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In 2019, it took on average 79 days to sell an older flat in Finland, while an older detached home was on the market for 130 days before it found a buyer. Meanwhile an older semi-detached home took 93 days to attract a buyer, according to data from the Central Federation of Finnish Real Estate Agencies, KVKL.
Overall the average time taken to sell all older homes in Finland was 98 days. However that average conceals extremes: properties moved quickly in large cities and took much more time in towns with shrinking populations. Sales in Jyväskylä were close to the average, with deals involving older properties taking 99 days on average.
Meanwhile, in Helsinki it took an average of 61 days to sell a home that was not new, while the average for studio and one-bedroom apartments was 51 days. Apart from the capital city, the sales timeline for older flats was shortest in places like Espoo, Vantaa, Turku, Oulu, Kuopio and Tampere.
Moderate price increases expected
The price per square metre of one-bedroom flats in Finland rose 4.7 percent (133 euros per square metre) between January and November this year, compared to the same period in 2018.
"In Kuopio, Oulu and Turku in particular, the rise in the price per square metre has been quite robust this year. If we look at the capital region, price growth in Vantaa has been more moderate than in other parts of the Helsinki region," Hintsa pointed out.
She added that there is no room for talk about a real estate bubble in Finland, although there are homes and apartment blocks in the Helsinki region where prices have spiked.
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"Some postal codes are more attractive than others in the capital region, but the overall picture is balanced," Hintsa declared.
In the first 11 months of the year, the square-metre-price of older one-bedroom apartments in Helsinki rose 2.4 percent, compared to 2.8 percent in Espoo, 0.9 percent in Vantaa, 4.2 percent in Tampere, 5.5 percent in Turku, 7.2 percent in Oulu, 5.6 percent in Kuopio and two percent in Pori.
Over the same period the price of a one-bedroom flat fell 9.4 percent in Kouvola, and declined by 5.6 percent in Jyväskylä and 2.7 percent in Lahti.