Also Uusimaa as a whole registered a 21-per-cent increase in sales from the first quarter of the year.

The real estate market was busy especially in peri-urban municipalities in the region, where the sales of old dwellings rose by 24 per cent from the previous quarter – with brokers particularly busy in Hyvinkää, Järvenpää and Porvoo.

Satu Astala, the managing director of OP Koti in Uusimaa, on Monday revealed in a press release that average home prices per square metre have risen by around two per cent in the region, suggesting that the low point has been reached.

“Statistics Finland’s consumer confidence statistics indicate that plans to buy a home have increased strongly especially in the capital region compared with other parts of Finland. In June, such plans rebounded to the level of late 2022, and around 21 per cent of consumers in the capital region intend to buy a home in the next 12 months,” she said.

In Uusimaa, home sales did nonetheless decrease by seven per cent year-on-year between January and June.

OP Uusimaa also revealed that the resurgent interest is reflected in housing loan applications. Although the number of applications dropped five per cent year-on-year in the first six months of the year, it has begun to increase after a quiet start to the year.

The weekly application numbers reached new highs for the year in June, according to Riikka Kangas, the director of personal financing at OP Uusimaa.

Loan applications for buy-to-let homes increased by up to 10 per cent. The average loan granted to aspiring investors stood at 103,000 euros in the first half of the year, representing a 19,000-euro drop from the previous year.

“The drop in home prices and stop in interest rate hikes has activated investors, and buy-to-let homes are regarded as appealing especially in Helsinki,” commented Kangas.

Aleksi Teivainen – HT