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Every time we get some ridiculously small AND expensive apartment here in Norway, the newspapers usually write about it. For example, this 10 m^2 / 107 ft^2 apartment in Oslo: https://www.finn.no/realestate/homes/ad.html?finnkode=256395...

It was listed for a total price of 2.2M NOK / 235k USD. 12 years ago, it was sold for 240k NOK / 25k USD.

Or this: https://www.finn.no/realestate/homes/ad.html?finnkode=254704...

Which was sold for 2.5M NOK / 261k USD. It is 13 m^2 / 140 ft^2, and 11 years ago, the same apartment was sold for 325 NOK / 34k USD.

As you can see, both of these tiny apartments have increased by around %700-%900, or a 11-12 year gross CAGR of around 20%!

As you can imagine, these apartments are not meant for long-time living. These apartments have been bought and sold 3-5 times since 2010, and if I had to guess, they have been bought by the parents of students, and sold as soon as they've graduated. No-one has lost money on these apartments.

At least here in Norway, more so Oslo, real-estate pricing has slowly but steady outpaced the purchasing power of young people. In fact - over half of first buyers in Oslo are backed by parents / family. The ones that don't get help, probably have to rent and save for a longer time.

It is purely anecdotal, but I've seen this divide in a pretty stark way...those that get help from their parents, buy their first apartment straight out of university (sometimes even while being students), so around age 22-24. People that don't get any help, late 20s / early 30s.

While Oslo would be the worst place here for first-time buyers, most mid-sized cities in Norway are trailing these prices and trends.




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