Record Set in Reykjavík Real Estate Market

A record 43.6 percent of apartments listed in Reykjavík and vicinity in November sold above list price, Morgunblaðið reports.

“In municipalities in the vicinity of the capital area, a record was set as well, when 26.9 percent of apartments sold above list price, compared with a 17 percent ratio in October and roughly 21 percent in September,” according to a new monthly report from the Housing and Construction Authority.

During the first week of January, 487 apartments were listed in the capital area — 20.2 percent fewer than on December 1. The number of single family homes and apartments in apartment buildings listed is at a historical low.

According to the report, it looks like 2021 will be a record year in terms of the number of purchase agreements, once all purchase agreements for December are in, despite reduced activity in the real estate market in recent months.

“The total number of purchase agreements for the first 11 months of the year was 12,744, compared with 12,545 for all of 2020, and 12,975 for 2007. Since then, Iceland’s population has grown by nearly 20 percent, so you could say business was proportionally livelier during the year 2007,” the report states.

Apartments in the capital area were on average listed for 39.2 days in November, and for 56.4 days outside the capital area.

The selling price of apartments rose by 15.4 percent from November 1, 2020, till November 1, 2021.

The average price of apartments in Iceland in November was ISK 58.5 million (USD 455,000; EUR 402,000).

In the capital area, the average price per square meter in November was ISK 618,000 (USD 4,800; EUR 4,250), compared with ISK 427,000 in South Iceland, where it was the second highest. It was the lowest in the West Fjords, or ISK 196,000 (USD 1,500; EUR 1,350).