Property in Finland is about to get cheaper, according to mortgage lender Hypo. The firm's new report predicts that the drop in transaction numbers seen at the start of the year will be followed by lengthening times on the market and then by falling prices.
In April the number of completed transactions fell by 40 percent compared to February, according to Hypo.
That drop in prices will occur during the summer, according to Hypo, and will be around five percent provided the economy gets back to normal relatively quickly following the epidemic.
That five percent fall will not be distributed evenly — in the capital city region it will be some 0.5 percent while elsewhere it could be much larger.
The report suggests that the Airbnb market in Helsinki has collapsed, prompting big discounts in the capital's rental market and potentially more small flats on the market.
Hypo estimates that around one-in-ten studio flats available for private rental (and not subsidised by social landlords) were used as short-term rentals before the crisis.
Airbnb has said it will refund travellers for many bookings between March and June when international travel is difficult, leaving many of their hosts out of pocket.
Hypo is an association dedicated to lending for home ownership, with about one percent of the Finnish mortgage market. It has around 27,000 customers and has been operating since 1860.
