Norges Bank study finds widened homebuyer disparities in Norway
A new Norges Bank Staff Memo reveals that disparities in homeownership have widened between the 1985 and 1991 cohorts in Norway. The study indicates a significant decline in homebuying among those with lower expected income or less wealthy parents.
The widening gap for young homebuyers
The Norges Bank Staff Memo examines homeownership rates for individuals born in 1985 and 1991, tracking them from age 20 until the end of 2024. The analysis reveals a notable decline in the share of individuals purchasing their first home in their early thirties between these cohorts.
Specifically, the probability of the 1991 cohort owning a home by age 30 is approximately 11 percentage points lower than for the 1985 cohort.
This decline is not uniform; it is most pronounced among subgroups with lower expected income or less wealthy parents, who already had the lowest probability of homeownership in the 1985 cohort.
Conversely, homeownership rates remained high for those with high expected income or affluent parents across both cohorts.
The study considers factors such as geographic residence, expected income, parental wealth, education level, and sex in its assessment of homebuying probabilities.
Barriers to entry persist for first-time buyers
Homeownership has long been a key political objective in Norway, offering significant economic advantages like low property taxes and collateral opportunities.
However, the challenges for young individuals entering the housing market have intensified, mirroring a global trend of rapidly rising house prices, particularly in urban areas.
The memo highlights that tighter lending requirements, gradually implemented since 2011, may have contributed to excluding individuals with moderate finances from the market.
Furthermore, widening financial inequality in Norway, where a greater share of lower-income households now rent, exacerbates these difficulties.
Previous research by Solheim and Vatne (2023) and Omholt (2025) also indicated shifts and diminished access for young individuals without wealthy parents, underscoring the persistent structural barriers.
Inequality's housing footprint
This Staff Memo provides crucial empirical evidence, confirming long-debated concerns about housing market accessibility for younger generations.
It starkly illustrates how socio-economic disparities are increasingly dictating access to a fundamental life investment.
For policymakers, this suggests current measures are insufficient, necessitating a re-evaluation of strategies for equitable homeownership.