Number of sold houses and prices

30. Mar 2023
House sales decline as prices shoot up across the country

A total of 271 dwelling houses were sold last year, which is the lowest figure in the past ten years.

Of this total, 99 were sold in smaller villages, 90 in towns and small cities and 82 in the capital region.

The lowest figure this century came in 2009 when 153 dwelling properties were sold. The record-high came in 2015 when the figure hit 398. The past two years have seen a decline in house sales across the country, especially outside the capital region.

The average price for a dwelling house remains highest in Tórshavn, currently at DKK 3.9 million compared with DKK 2.2 million in towns and small cities and DKK 1.8 million in villages.

Important limitations

Details about Statistics Faroe Islands’ data sources and limitations are found at the end of this article.

Please note that this article only covers sales of dwelling houses and not apartment buildings. This means that a complete picture of property sales cannot be achieved, especially considering that a large number of rental properties have been built in recent years.

In the 2015-2022 period, a total of 1,524 new residential properties were built – 652 dwelling houses and 872 terraced houses or apartments. Of this total, 311 dwelling houses and 677 terraced houses or apartments were built in the Streymoy district (predominantly in the capital region). 

Fewer dwelling houses sold in the past two years

Following the economic downturn in the early 1990s, sales of dwelling houses started to gain pace and reached a preliminary peak of 300 in 2007, just ahead of the great financial crisis. This was followed by a sharp decline in 2009-2010. The figure then rose steadily up to 2015, which saw a record number of 398 dwelling houses sold. Sales then dropped over the next four years, only to bounce back to the second-highest figure on record in 2020. Since then, sales of dwelling houses since have dropped to last year’s 271.

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Higher price hikes outside capital

In 2007, i.e. shortly before the big financial crisis, Tórshavn’s average price for a dwelling house was DKK 2.3 million. By last year, this average had risen to DKK 3.9 million – an increase of 70%. The equivalent figures for towns and small cities were DKK 1.2 million in 2007 and DKK 2.2 million in 2022 – an increase of 81%. The average price of a dwelling house in villages went from DKK 1 million in 2007 to DKK 1.8 million in 2022 – an increase of 75%.

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