Specialist property lender Hypo says in its latest housing index report that the property market in Finland is divided into three segments. There was a smaller-than-usual dip in July and August, and Hypo reckons that in the Helsinki region the market is firing on all cylinders.
In other growing cities, such as Tampere, there was an uptick in the number of deals, and indications that prices might also begin to rise.
"The worst might be over elsewhere in Finland too, as the number of deals is growing little by little," said Hypo's chief economist Juhana Brotherus. He did caution, though, that in sparsely-populated regions prices are still trending down.
Growth forecast
The index found that prices are rising in the capital with buyers keen to snap up the best flats—with some even being sold before the first viewing. There's also interest in investing in Turku, Tampere, Hämeenlinna, Jyväskylä and Kuopio.
Hypo is now forecasting that house prices will rise by 1.2 percent in 2016, and 1.5 percent in 2017.
Brotherus suggests that there are some issues with the market.
"At this moment the high price of accommodation acts as a bottleneck on economic growth and employment," said Brotherus. "It doesn't always pay and it's not always possible to move to a new job in a growing city, if the cost of housing rises to an unsustainable level," said Brotherus.