Most 1st-time home buyers buy 2 or more-room apartments: OP

Last year, most of the first-time home loans OP Financial Group granted were granted for two-room apartments or larger, said OP in a press release on Friday.

When examining the 20 locations that had the most first-time home buyers in the last year, the median area of apartments bought was 74 square metres.

In Uusimaa, the median size of a first home was just under 70 square metres, and even in Helsinki, it was more than 60 square metres.

Outside Uusimaa, the median was approximately 85 square metres. Here, median means the midmost value of apartment sizes of home loans granted to first-time buyers, meaning that there is an equal number of apartments that are smaller or larger than the value.

When examining all home loans OP Financial Group granted to first-timers in the last year, only 15% were granted for apartments of less than 50 square metres by area.

“Many think that first-time home buyers usually buy a studio apartment. However, 74 square metres is probably at least a two-room apartment. The idea that many first-time home buyers are interested specifically in small apartments might be slightly outdated,” said Satu Nurmi, Senior Vice-President, Mortgages and Real Estate Business of OP Financial Group.

The prices of small city apartments have declined more in the last year than other types of home. The share of studio apartments as owner-occupied homes has also reduced.

The statistics include only owner-occupied homes where the owner of the home lives.

“Even in Helsinki, only just under 10% of owner-occupied homes are studios, while their share used to be over 13% 20 years ago. At the same time, the share of studios as leased apartments has increased, and the share of larger apartments decreased. It seems that owner-occupied homes are growing and leased apartments are shrinking, which is also reflected in first-time home buyers,” said Joona Widgrén, Senior Economist of OP Financial Group.

Roughly 40% of first-time home loans at OP Financial Group are taken out with another person. Only a few first-time home buyers end up building or having their own house built. Last year, OP Financial Group granted only 3% of its first-time home loans for building.

“This is definitely due to increased interest rates and higher building costs. Many have also talked about how the market is tepid for new apartments, which may further add to the insecurity of those interested in building,” said Nurmi.

At the end of last year, there was an exceptionally high number of home loan applications by first-time buyers, following information about the end of transfer tax.

In December, nearly half of new home loans were taken out by first-timers. In January and February, the number of home loans for first-time buyers dropped by roughly a fifth compared with the corresponding period in the previous year, and March was also 14% less than last year.