Increase in sales of single-family houses

In the real estate business the economic recession seems to be over. The worst period of the recession occurred at the beginning of 2009. Since then the business has clearly picked up. In 2010, a total of 68 900 purchases of real estate were made; an increase of 13 percent compared to the previous year. The sum of money used on real estate amounted to 7.8 billion euros.

Last year, the Russians purchased 413 properties in Finland, which equals the number of purchases made in 2009. Scandinavians bought 44 and other EU nationals 62 properties. The other 36 buyers came from countries outside Europe.

The number of detached house purchases totalled 17 160 in 2010, an increase of 17 percent to the year before. Most purchases of single-family houses were made in 2005, when 18 000 houses changed owner. The prices increased in planned areas by 7 percent and in sparsely populated areas by 6 percent.

In 2010, a total of 7 670 purchases of detached house plots were carried out, which is 9 percent more in comparison to 2009. The square prices of plots sold by private persons in detailed planned areas increased by 26 percent. The price level of plots sold by municipalities has also risen by 22 percent. The rise in average prices is partly due to the fact that business is again conducted in large centres.

Holiday house purchases in 2010 totalled 11 300, which is 9 percent more than in the previous year. Up to 80 percent of the purchases are made outside planned areas.

The average price of a built holiday house with private shoreline increased by 12 percent in planned areas, whereby the price for a cottage with a plot was 125 000 euros on average. Outside planned areas the average price for a holiday house with private shoreline was 90 000 euros (+7 %) and for a cottage with no shoreline 43 000 euros.

The price for a vacant plot with private shoreline in detailed planned areas was 37 000 euros (increase of 25 %) on average.

Last year, 670 purchases of arable land were made. The number has doubled compared to year 2009. The year before, tax allowances were expected. Although this wish never came true, the business picked up. The price of arable land increased by 14 percent, and in 2010 the average price of arable land in Finland was 7 840 euros per hectare.

In 2010, purchases of forest land totalled 2 680, an increase of 21 percent to the year before. The average price of forest in the entire country was 2 400 euros per hectare, an increase of 17 percent from the previous year.

The prices referred to in this press release are all median prices. The data is based on the Real estate purchase price statistics compiled by the National Land Survey of Finland.