The number of property sales increased

Last year, property sales were more active than in the year before. The number of real estate purchases increased despite the coronavirus pandemic. Sales of holiday houses and plots with a shoreline increased the most. In addition, many more forest estates were sold in Lapland than in the previous year. National Land Survey of Finland (NLS) has compiled real estate prices and the number of purchases in 2020.

“The number of real estate purchases was 70,500 in 2020, being 9.5% more than in 2019. This can be regarded as a major surprise during the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic”, says Taisto Toppinen, head of registers, who is responsible for maintaining the official real estate purchase price register.

The data in the statistical service is compiled from the NLS real estate purchase price register, which is an openly accessible online service. Data is only collected on real estate, not on shares in housing companies or single-family houses on leased plots.

Huge increases in purchases of holiday houses

The number of purchases of holiday houses with a shoreline increased significantly by 41%, or by 5,200 in the whole of Finland. Purchases of unbuilt plots with a shoreline increased by 71% to 1,400.

“Purchases of holiday houses were very high, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, the number of holiday house purchases has increased for several years now”, Toppinen says.

Prices of holiday houses with a shoreline increased after a long decreasing trend. The median price of holiday houses increased from EUR 85,000 to EUR 90,000 (+6%) in areas covered by a detailed plan.

Median prices were the highest in the region of Uusimaa, where the median price of a holiday house with a private shoreline in a planned area was EUR 173,000, up by 8% from the year before. There was a similar trend in the region of Southwest Finland, where the median price of a holiday house was EUR 140,000 (+14%).

Prices of single-family houses increased in larger cities

Finland’s most expensive single-family houses are located in Espoo, where the median price of all property purchases was EUR 539,000 last year. The median price increased by 16% from the year before.

Last year, the median price for a single-family house was EUR 459,000 (+10%) in Helsinki, EUR 356,000 (+8%) in Vantaa, EUR 285,000 (+8%) in Tampere, EUR 245,000 (+7%) in Turku, EUR 209,000 (-3%) in Kuopio, EUR 203,000 (+12%) in Oulu, and EUR 193,000 (-8%) in Jyväskylä.

Purchases of forest land picked up in Lapland

Last year, purchases of forest estates of more than two hectares increased by 1% from the year before, totalling more than 4,700. The largest number of forest land purchases was recorded in Northern Ostrobothnia, totalling 780 purchases, up by 8%.

“Trade picked up the most in Lapland, by 33%, with a total of 420 forest estates being sold. At the same time, the number of forest land purchases decreased by three percentage points in the nine southernmost regions”, says Esa Ärölä, chief expert at the NLS.

The median price of purchases was roughly EUR 2,900 per hectare. There were no changes in sales prices in the whole of Finland from 2019, because the proportion of purchases of forest estates in Northern Finland from total purchases was higher than in the previous year.

In Lapland and Kainuu, median prices increased by more than 16% compared to the year before. In Uusimaa, median prices decreased by 9%. The most expensive forest land was located in Southwest Finland, where the median price was EUR 5,200 per hectare, and the least expensive in Lapland, EUR 1,030 per hectare. 

Purchases of arable land increased

Last year, a total of 720 parcels of arable land of more than two hectares were purchased, being roughly 6% more than in 2019. The largest number of purchases were made in Southern Ostrobothnia, a total of 127, and nearly the same as in the year before.

The median price of arable land in the whole of Finland was EUR 8,500 per hectare. The median price decreased by approximately 4% from the previous year. The decrease in the median price is largely explained by the proportion of purchases of arable land in Southern Finland and Ostrobothnia from total purchases decreasing by roughly five percentage points from 2019 to 2020.

The most expensive arable land was located in Southwest Finland, where the median price was EUR 11,400 per hectare. In Southwest Finland, the median price of arable land per hectare decreased by EUR 425 from 2019. The least expensive arable land was located in Kainuu, where the median price was EUR 1,800 per hectare. Only four purchases of arable land were recorded in the Åland Islands and Kainuu.

Data in the official real estate purchase price register maintained by the NLS is updated in the online service every month regarding the current year. Real-time statistics are updated by the end of the following month. Data is available nationally and by municipality and region.

All prices mentioned in the text are median prices.