Competition intensifies on the property listing market
The Etuovi, Jokakoti and Oikotie property portals compete with their prices and services.
There is intense competition for visitors and advertisements on the Finnish property listing market. The major estate agent chains have transferred their advertisements to the Jokakoti service, which they own with the MTV3 television station. Jokakoti currently has almost twice as many advertisements as its competitors, approximately 35,000.
Low rents for high earners
The average person has no other option but to pay market prices for rent or take out a large mortgage.
During past decades, employers of large numbers of people owned entire blocks of houses and rented these company-owned dwellings out to the company’s own employees at a cheap rate. This guaranteed the availability of a workforce.
Capital region plot prices for detached houses very steep
Last year, the average price per squared metre of a plot of land for a small house was 161 euros in the capital region, while elsewhere in Finland the price was 14.2 euros, according to data released by Statistics Finland earlier this month.
House sales down in February
The amount of house sales fell in the whole country in February. There were 15 per cent less sales than during the corresponding time period last year, says the real estate agency Suomen Asuntoverkko.
The data is based on the Logica and Etuovi.com service, which together with Suomen Asuntoverkko represents 80 per cent of all house sales made in Finland.
The hazards around us
You may feel safe in your home but is there a modern, silent and invisible danger to worry about?
IN THE apartment building I live in, near the centre of Helsinki, my laptop regularly picks up over 15 WiFi networks in my child’s bedroom. Many of them remain on 24 hours a day. These home networks are being broadcast from the flats around us. The technology is wonderfully convenient but is it safe? Where there is a wireless signal there is also electromagnetic radiation (EMR).
People want stronger sense of community in cities
According to the new Residents’ Barometer survey, more than one in three Finns talk with their neighbours almost daily. Relationships between neighbours are closest among those living in semi-detached and terraced houses. People living in detached houses talk with their neighbours more than people who live in blocks of flats.
‘What is needed in the future is variety’
Above all else, people want peace, services, their own garden and to be close to nature.
As commutes have become longer, Finns’ dissatisfaction with transport in their neighbourhoods has increased. According to the Residents’ Barometer 2010 survey, published last month, the number of respondents who want better public transport in their area has doubled from the previous survey conducted in 2004. According to the new survey, 8 per cent are now dissatisfied.
Developers encouraged to favour environmentally friendly energy sources
New building regulations to take effect in July.
New building regulations will aim to make energy usage more ecologically sound. Developers will be urged to favour environmentally friendly energy sources. Building insulation and ventilation will also be addressed.
Moving needn’t take heaven and earth
Moving house can be a real battle. But this reporter managed to move from a studio apartment in Helsinki’s Taka-Töölö to a two-bed in Munkkiniemi in one day. Moving flat or house should be run with military precision and, hopefully, without casualties.
Housing prices compared: Helsinki, Stockholm, London and New York
In relation to other cities, Helsinki’s real estate market didn’t have much of a boom or a bust.
AS the saying goes, the key to all real estate is location. The real estate market in Helsinki shows some broad similarities to the market in other major Western cities, but there are also significant local differences.
