(Bloomberg) -- Norway’s finance ministry is lowering the amount of savings needed before buying a dwelling to make it easier for first-time home buyers to enter the market.
The equity requirement will be reduced to 10% from 15%, the government said in a statement on Wednesday. The regulations covering the flexibility banks have in assessing customer’s serviceability and the rules on installment payments for mortgages and consumer loans will continue, it said.
The decision comes after the country’s Financial Supervisory Authority recommended against any major changes to existing regulation, while Norges Bank proposed easing the maximum loan-to-value ratio. Norway’s housing market has held up better than in neighboring Sweden and Denmark, with rising prices making it increasingly difficult for first-time buyers to finance purchases.
The government also followed the advice of the FSA and the central bank in making the lending regulations permanent.
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