Real apartment prices expected to keep falling nationwide

Real apartment prices are expected to continue falling nationwide, Jónas Atli Gunnarsson, chief economist at the Housing, Construction and Planning Authority (HMS), told mbl.is.

He cautioned against reading too much into the rise in registered purchase contracts in September compared with August. Monthly figures can be misleading, he said, noting that August was especially subdued compared with Augusts in previous years. It has been 12 years since a month of August was as slow, he said.

Landsbanki’s latest analysis says the number of unsold new apartments has increased year on year. Conditions vary among homebuilders, and one said sales were reasonable given the circumstances. The market for new apartments at affordable prices was not frozen, the builder said.