Rising housing costs worry 59% Finns: OP survey

Growing housing costs worry the majority of Finns, according to survey commissioned by OP.

The survey asked Finns how worried they are about the increase in housing-related costs stemming from higher prices and interest rates.

Of around 1,000 respondents, 59% said they were very or fairly worried. A total of 33% said they were not very worried and just 7% said that they were not at all worried about the rise of housing costs.

The sale of detached houses and holiday homes has been brisk during the pandemic years when remote work made people in Finland seek more living space.

Selling times of detached houses and apartments in semi-detached houses or terraced houses are still shorter than before the pandemic. While the number of home sales has gone down from the peak year of 2021, it has remained more or less at the level before it.

Currently the rise in home prices is moderate, but housing costs are now on the rise as the price of energy has increased in a short period of time.

Lasse Palovaara, Head of OP Koti, recommended that people worrying about higher housing costs analyse the costs of their household.

“Housing costs are not rising right now for everyone. Many people living in detached houses have an electricity agreement that is valid for a fixed term,” Palovaara said.

The survey between June and July was answered by 1096 people from 15 to –79 year-old.

The survey was conducted for OP by Taloustutkimus. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.