The report starts with a description of the data that is used. The data is Statistics Norway’s building- and dwelling statistics. The building statistics measures the development in construction activity, while the dwelling statistics measures the entire dwelling stock in Norway. Both statistics use the cadastre as the main source. The building statistics and dwelling statistics are joined to retrieve the utility floor space for each dwelling that have been completed in the various years. The period examined for utility floor space is 2007–2023. When we focus on how many dwellings have been completed, we only use the building statistics, then we can examine a longer period, 1983–2023. The figures for number of dwellings completed each year differ from the figures in the building statistics statbank tables at ssb.no. In this report we use the date the dwellings were actually completed, in contrast to the statbank tables, which are based on the date the dwellings were registered as completed in the cadastre. The difference between the two dates is described in more detail in chapter two.
This figures from this report shows that the housing sector I strongly affected by the economic situation. There was a noticeable decline in dwelling construction following the banking crisis and financial crisis. In addition, it was a greater degree of postponement and cancellation of construction during the financial crisis. 2008 and 2009 have a 5–6 percentage point higher degree of cancelation and postponement than the rest of the period (see fig. 3.8). Among the dwelling completed in 2009 and 2010, a particularly high proportion were in the housing types detached houses and semi-detached houses, while a low proportion were in multi-dwelling buildings (blocks of flats). This suggests that in bad economic times it is usually the large housing projects with block of flats that are either canceled or postponed. Housing manufacturers are usually dependent on selling a certain number of dwellings before construction starts and in times of rising prices for goods and services and a large degree of uncertainty related to the interest rates, is there less willingness to invest among dwelling buyers.
The decline in dwelling construction was more prolonged in the aftermath of the banking crisis than in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The reason is complex. The eighties were a turbulent decade for the housing sector in Norway, with strong housing price growth and credit growth followed by a strong housing price decline and credit crisis, at the same time as the liberalization of the housing market made housing construction exposed to the economic cycle and exposed to risks (Kronborg, 2022).
To a large extent, developments in dwelling construction at county level and in the big cities have developed in the same way as on a national basis, especially that we can see a decline in the aftermath of the banking crisis and financial crisis. The exception is that we can see a regional difference because of the fall in oil prices in 2014. The fall in oil prices led to a decline in dwelling construction in the Stavanger-region.