A couple of weeks ago in this blog, we discussed rental prices in Helsinki. This week we’ll take a look at one-family house prices in Finland.
As we have explained elsewhere, buying an apartment in Finland means that you are actually buying shares in a limited liability housing company. So, you are not actually buying real estate.
Buying a one-family house, instead, usually means buying real estate (a plot of land with a home and possibly additional buildings on it). In this blog, we’ll only focus on real estate prices. In this case, meaning specifically one-family homes.
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One-family house prices in Finland
According to Statistics Finland, the average house price per square meter in the second quarter of this year in Finland was 1 767 €.
House prices, however, differ based on the size of the city they are in. For example, in the greater metropolitan area, the average price was significantly higher than the national average. There it was 3 728 €.
Large cities with over 100 000 inhabitants have higher prices than that, though. In these cities, the average price was 2 641 € per square meter. In the smallest cities, however, we go below the national average. There, the average price was 1 352 € in the second quarter of this year.
Prices also vary depending on the area of the country they are in. In southern Finland, houses are most expensive. There, the average price per square meter was 2 061 €. The second-highest average price is in western Finland. There, the average price per square meter was 1 549 € in the second quarter of 2021.
The most inexpensive areas of the country are northern and eastern Finland. In the north, the average house price is 1 313 € while in the east it is 1 306 €.
Recent developments in one-family house prices in Finland
Statistics Finland reports that, in the second quarter of this year, one-family houses were 8.3 % more expensive compared to the year before. In comparison to the first quarter of this year, prices have gone up by 3.1 %.
Price increases were bigger in larger cities. In cities with more than 100 000 inhabitants, prices had gone up 13.3 % from the same period last year. At the same time, in cities with less than 20 000 inhabitants, house prices had gone up only by 6.6 % from last year.
Southern Finland saw the largest increase in one-family house prices since last year. Compared with prices in the second quarter of 2020, house prices in southern Finland now were 11.6 % higher.
In eastern Finland, the increase was 2.6 %, in western Finland 7 %, and in northern Finland 4.9 %.
A brief look at lot sizes and associated real estate prices
Above we have given average prices for one-family homes in different parts of the country. These averages are calculated based on the size of the house, not on lot size. Let’s now, however, talk a little bit about the lots as well.
We don’t have access to data that would show both the house sizes and the lot sizes for the real estate that was sold in the first quarter of this year. We do, however, have information about the average lot sizes and the average real estate prices going down to the municipal level.
For example, in 2021 there have been 121 recorded real estate deals in Helsinki involving a one-family home thus far. Those homes have stood on lots averaging 923 square meters in size. The average price for such real estate has thus far been 572 825 €. The median, in turn, has been 490 000 €.
Here’s the same information for some other cities in Finland:
| City | The average lot size for a one-family house in a zoned area (sq.m.) | Average price (€) | Median price (€) |
| Espoo | 1 117 | 677 119 | 580 000 |
| Vantaa | 1 015 | 422 578 | 392 000 |
| Turku | 1 223 | 312 244 | 251 000 |
| Oulu | 1 249 | 227 451 | 210 000 |
| Rovaniemi | 1 304 | 203 515 | 175 900 |
| Tampere | 987 | 325 000 | 383 281 |
| Jyväskylä | 1 160 | 246 319 | 230 000 |
The above discussion is based on actual sales prices. We can, however, also take a look at developments in asking prices.
Developments in asking prices for one-family houses in Finland
Taloussanomat published an article in May of this year where they listed asking prices per square meter in various Finnish cities. Their article is based on data provided by Etuovi, a marketplace for homes.
According to that article, the average asking price for a one-family house in Helsinki was 3 782 €. So actually very close to the average price Statistics Finland gives for one-family houses in the metropolitan area.
Statistics Finland tells us that the average one-family home price in the municipalities surrounding the greater Helsinki area was 2 340 € in the second quarter of 2021. The municipalities included in this group are Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Kerava, Kirkkonummi, Nurmijärvi, Riihimäki, Sipoo, Tuusula, and Vihti. According to the data in the Taloussanomat article, in turn, the average asking price for this area is about 2 268 €.
This number, however, is missing data from Sipoo. Should asking prices in Sipoo be included, the average asking price would certainly climb up. In this group, the most expensive areas are Sipoo, Kirkkonummi, and Tuusula. For the latter two, we have data on the asking price averages. In Kirkkonummi, it is 2 574 € per square meter. And for Tuusula, it is 2 592 €. It is reasonable to think that Sipoo would be around there as well.
Taloussanomat reports that in Helsinki asking prices recorded in April of this year were 25.8 % higher than they were the year before. They recorded a 4.2 % increase in Tampere, a 0.5 % increase in Turku, a 4.4 % drop in Oulu, a 0.7 % drop in Jyväskylä, and a 1.4 % increase in Rovaniemi.
In Espoo, asking prices for one-family homes rose by 18.7 %. Vantaa also saw a significant increase in asking prices. There, they rose by 10.8 % from the year before.
A brief look at the future of home prices in Finland
According to Kiinteistömaailma, a Finnish estate agency, home (both apartment and real estate) prices will continue to grow in the near future. In their opinion, the whole country will see an annual increase of 1.3 % in square meter prices between 2021 and 2023. Again, they discuss both apartments and one-family houses.
In Helsinki, they predict home prices will increase by 4.2 % between 2021 and 2023. For Turku, their figure is 3.7 %, for Tampere 3.3 %, for Vantaa 2.7 %, and for Espoo and Kauniainen 3 %.
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