Rovaniemi’s new-build apartment sales show signs of recovery

Sales of new-build apartments are showing signs of recovery in Rovaniemi, Yle reports. Construction of the city’s second privately financed apartment block in two years will begin this autumn.

Nearly 50 apartments are being built at both the Revontuliranta development on the banks of the Kemijoki river and a project on Siljotie. More than half of the 47 apartments at Siljotie have already been reserved.

Short-term rentals have been banned in both developments during the sales process. New apartments in Rovaniemi have previously been bought extensively by property investors for short-term rental use.

Construction of the first apartment block at Valionranta, Revontuliranta One, began in the spring. According to the sales website of developer Pallas Rakennus, 30 of the 47 apartments remain available. Three have been sold and 14 reserved.

Pallas Rakennus chief executive Taisto Rautio said demand for new-build apartments was increasing. He said Revontuliranta differed from other developments in Rovaniemi because of its location by the river, its level of amenities and the size of its apartments.

The largest four-room apartments are 150 square metres and cost more than one million euros. The most expensive costs 1.2 million euros. Rautio said the apartments at the river-facing end of the building were more expensive than the others, while the rest of the development followed local price levels, taking its exceptional location into account.

The company is also continuing work at Lapinaukea in the city centre. Rautio said an application for a building permit for the next block would be submitted this year.

At Siljotie, opposite the railway station, construction of the second apartment block is due to begin around the turn of September and October. The plans call for four adjacent blocks. The first was completed in 2023, after which a tower crane stood unused at the site for about two years.

Jukka Poukkula, sales manager at Rakennusteho, said more than half of the 47 apartments had been reserved. The project is a joint venture between Rakennusteho and Temotek, with Temotek responsible for building the second block.

“For the first time in a long while, presales have gone really well, and we trust that the next phases will also be completed on a quick schedule,” Poukkula said.

More projects in the pipeline

YIT is planning to build the final three apartment blocks in the Kiela development between Rovakatu and Maakuntakatu. The site previously housed Rovakatu lower secondary school and the municipal hall of the former rural municipality of Rovaniemi.

Reservations for those apartments are not yet possible. Presales may begin next spring, according to YIT’s sales department. If enough apartments are reserved, construction could begin in the autumn of next year.

Rovaniemi city technical director Pertti Onkalo said privately financed apartment construction had been paused in the city for about two years. A state-subsidised rental building by KAS has recently been completed, while the student housing foundation DAS has begun construction near the university.

Last year, estate agents said Rovaniemi could even have a shortage of homes for sale. There are now nearly 400 apartments listed for sale in the city on the Etuovi website.