Finland experiences a continued decline in the prices of old share apartments during the second quarter of 2023. According to the preliminary data from the Finnish Statistical Center, the prices of old share apartments fell by 7.0% compared to the previous year and by 0.2% compared to the previous quarter in the second quarter of 2023. During April to June 2023, the number of old share apartments sold through real estate agents decreased by 32% compared to the same period the previous year.
The decline in prices was observed in major cities, including Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Tampere, as well as the rest of the country excluding major cities. In June 2023, prices dropped 7.3% across the whole country compared to the previous year, but there was a slight increase of 0.3% when compared to May 2023.
In major cities, the prices of old share apartments declined by 7.7% during April to June 2023 compared to the previous year, with the steepest drops in Helsinki (9.0%) and Tampere (7.5%). Espoo and Vantaa also experienced significant decreases of over 7%. However, Oulu only saw a mild decline of 2.0%. During the same period, old share apartment prices outside the major cities decreased by 5.5%.
In terms of apartment types, during the second quarter of 2023, prices of apartments in multi-story buildings (kerrostaloasuntojen) experienced the highest decline in pääkaupunkiseudulla (the capital region), especially in studios (yksiöiden) by approximately 11% and two-bedroom apartments (kaksioiden) by around 9%. Family-sized apartments (perheasunnoissa) experienced a decrease of 7.1%.
However, there was a positive development in Mikkelissä, where prices of old share apartments rose by 2.4% compared to the previous year. The situation was different in other regional centers, where the most significant price drops were observed in Kokkola (17.9%), Lahti (12.3%), and Kouvola (11.4%).
Regarding new share apartments, the prices saw an increase of 3.1% during the second quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year. However, the overall number of transactions for new apartments decreased significantly by 66% across the country compared to the second quarter of 2022. In the capital region, the prices of new apartments increased by 8.8%, while in the rest of the country, they fell slightly by 0.2% compared to the previous year. For apartment types, the prices of studio apartments in multi-story buildings declined by 7.3%, whereas two-bedroom apartments increased by 0.5%, and family-sized apartments experienced a significant rise of 10%.
These developments indicate a complex and varied situation in the Finnish real estate market, with a clear trend of declining prices for old share apartments but an increase in new apartment prices, especially in the capital region.