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In addition to the demand side issues of low interest rates leading to bigger mortgages and ballooning real estate values in the nordics, what are the supply si

In addition to the demand side issues of low interest rates leading to bigger mortgages and ballooning real estate values in the nordics, what are the supply side constraints? When visiting Helsinki, Finland, I was amazed to hear a house for a family of 4 can easily cost near 1M euros even when located in the suburbs outside the city. This was even more surprising to me after hearing about average salaries and driving around the capitol area—-there was a ridiculous amount of unused land. 15-30 mins outside Helsinki and you’re basically in a forest. I assumed there must be some sort of strict restrictions on building. Is this the case, or am I assuming too much based on my experience with SF?

european321 6y ago
Yeah, in trendy areas near the city, a big, modern house can cost 1M euros. But there are much cheaper ones as well in the suburbs. Also agree that I don't understand who can afford to buy such houses with the average salaries being so low here. I guess those are still must be outliers that pop up more from the average houses. And yes there are a lot of restrictions for building in the city. Overall the "housing code" is quite strict and standards are very high.
jusssi 6y ago
> there was a ridiculous amount of unused land The municipalities have to zone it first, and then build basic infrastructure. Whenever they try, they get bogged down by complaints by NIMBYers who really like their forests and the flying squirrels* that live in them. * Not joking, the environments they live in are protected. And they live almost everywhere where there are enough trees to call a forest and you care to look for them. A lot of zoning plans get cancelled because of flying squirrels.