New highs within reach

Research evidence excerpt

New highs within reach

AF Gruppen

Strict regulations drive elevated Norwegian new-build costs

The Norwegian property asset manager UNION published a report in August 2025

examining the magnitude and drivers of differences in building costs between Norway and

Sweden. Below, we provide a brief summary of the key findings from the report.

According to SSB’s construction cost index, Norwegian building costs have risen by around

150% since 2000. However, the increase in realised contractor costs per square metre has

been significantly higher, and in many projects is estimated at between 270% and 370%.

Over the same period, new housing prices have risen by more than 100% in real terms, the

CPI has risen by 82%, and wages have increased by around 150%. As a result, the actual

cost of building new homes has outgrown both new-build prices and household incomes,

making Norwegian residential development projects increasingly difficult to realise.

The report points to structural changes in regulatory requirements over the past two

decades. Following more than 20 major revisions to regulations, Norway now applies

substantially stricter requirements related to accessibility, fire safety, acoustics, daylight,

energy performance, and documentation. Comparable requirements do not apply in

Sweden, where the report argues that similar levels of safety and quality are achieved

through more flexible and performance-based regulations.

To illustrate these differences, the report applies a standard reference project: a 6-8 storey

apartment building with a gross area of 9,000 sqm (BTA) and a net saleable area of 6,750

sqm (BRA-S), comprising 110 apartments of 60 sqm each. Costs are stated per square

metre of net saleable area (BRA-S), including VAT. Based on current building regulations