Real estate agents believe the sky-high square meter prices reflect a severe shortage of small apartments in Oslo. Now he's asking the city council to follow through on his own election promises.
– As a seller, I am very satisfied, but I feel for all first-time buyers, says Nanette Stenbach Rice (29).
In April, he sold his one-bedroom apartment in Sandaker, Oslo, for NOK 3,925,000. The sale price corresponds to a price per square meter of more than NOK 147,000 – several tens of thousands of NOK above the average price of Frøkner in Oslo, the country's most expensive residential area.
Riis says she contacted the broker after another mini-apartment in the same housing association sold for more than NOK 140,000 a square meter.
– I followed the market for a while and saw that a neighbor sold in a housing association at a record price. So I shopped around and contacted the broker who sold the apartment next door. “Because there weren't many comparable houses out there, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to get out of the apartment quickly together,” Rice says.
Two weeks later, his apartment was advertised on finn.no. After a while, the list had more than 200 interested parties.
– I tried to adjust my expectations so that I would not be disappointed, but I had little hope that we would be more than 3.9 million, says Riis.
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There were 90 people at the screening
Hege Berg Thomstad, a real estate agent in the North Pole sector of PvtMcKleran Soria Moria, was tasked with selling the two apartments in question.
The broker says he already knew they would be popular, especially since the first had an alcove with a window. However she was surprised by the overwhelming interest.
– There were 90 pieces on display. My only regret about the sale is that I told the seller I didn't install the swing door before the showing. As I had no space in the apartment, I stood in the hallway by myself for a long time.
– Big shortage of small apartments
Nine potential buyers threw themselves into the bidding round and the apartment was eventually sold for more than NOK 3.8 million, which corresponds to a price per square meter of more than NOK 143,000.
When the broker soon carried out the sale of Nanette Steinbach Rice's apartment in the same housing association, he received an additional four thousand Swedish kroner per square meter.
– The high square meter prices for these two apartments are a manifestation of the fact that we have a market with a huge shortage of housing below 30 square meters. That's true here and in other central counties, Thomstad believes.
Since starting his own business in 1997, he has been a real estate broker in the same area.
– Prices like this are not common in this area, but if I had to predict the future, this is where we are headed. Very little is being built, says the broker.
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I think the apartment standard should be removed
The estate agent believes that the apartment standard in Oslo should be removed, which states that apartments smaller than 35 square meters cannot be built in city center districts.
– Time to build what Oslo needs. When there is such an alarming demand for small apartments, and and and we see many young people struggling to enter the housing market, I believe the apartment standard should be removed,
Before last year's local elections, the Conservative Party promised to scrap the controversial regulation.
– Why is it still alive after election victory?
– We work with apartment quality, this work requires time. We are looking at how to facilitate a diverse housing mix to suit local needs. It is absolutely certain that the apartment standard should not be applied across the city, as it is in practice, writes James Stove Lorentzen (H), Oslo City Councilor for Urban Development, in an email via the Department of Communications.
– Gave clear instructions
He says that the city council in Declaration of Hammersburg Declaration of Hammersburg A document describing the policy and most important goals for the Oslo City Council, based on an agreement between the parties that make up the City Council.They have laid down clear guidelines on how they consider using the apartment standard. This applies only to inner city and other apartment sizes in some selected sub-districts, so you can adapt to the needs you see in the population.
– Oslo needs small and cheap apartments that singles and couples without children can afford. It's this large group that we need to focus on now if we want more people to enter the housing market, writes Lorentzen.
Nanette Stenbach Riis (29), who had to pay NOK 3.25 million for her Sandaker apartment in 2020, welcomes the change.
– The apartment standard needs to be fixed and it is positive to hear that the new Urban Development Council from the right is already working on it. I lived well with 27 square meters for more than 3 years, thanks to a good layout, he says.
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