Norwegian property mogul eyes Copenhagen, as population growth pushes up prices
Restricted geography adds further pressure on Swedish capital Stockholm, but Nordic markets confident of handling ‘fairly drastic’ rate increases
Copenhagen’s “comparatively low” real estate prices should continue to rise as the city’s population grows, Norwegian investor Ivar Tollefsen, who owns properties in the Danish capital worth US$1.55 billion.
Tollefsen, whose wider Scandinavian property portfolio is valued at US$7.4 billion, has been snapping up houses and flats in Copenhagen since 2014. He said higher yields from residential rentals than in neighbouring countries was drawing strong interest from international investors.
“The economic fundamentals are good, and the population growth in Copenhagen will support rising rental values and market values,” Tollefsen said in an emailed response to questions from Reuters.
Copenhagen’s population has grown 23 per cent since 1995 and that pattern is set to continue, according to Denmark’s national statistics office.
Prices of owner-occupied flats in the city have risen around 10 per cent annually in recent years. Denmark’s largest mortgage lender Nykredit expects apartment prices to go up by 8.7 per cent this year, 4.9 per cent next year and 3.3 per cent in 2019.