Cheap Houses in Finland: Regional Prices and the Nordics

According to Statistics Finland (Tilastokeskus), prices of resale apartments in housing companies (taloyhtiö) vary a great deal between the regions of Finland. In 2025, their average price was €4,270 per m² (about £3,600 / $4,800) in the Helsinki capital region (Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa and Kauniainen) and €1,860 per m² (about £1,600 / $2,100) in the rest of Finland. For anyone looking for cheap houses in Finland, this article sets these figures alongside house and cottage prices and the official price statistics of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and explains what each figure measures.

What “cheap” means in the statistics

When looking for cheap houses in Finland, or elsewhere in the Nordics, the first question is where prices are low. Official statistics can help answer it, but only if you know what each number describes. Finnish price statistics come from two sources that measure different things, and the Nordic countries each measure prices in their own way.

Shares or real property. A buyer of a flat in a block of flats or a terraced house usually buys shares in a taloyhtiö, a housing company. These shares (asunto-osake) give the owner the right to occupy a specific dwelling. The building is owned by the company, and the plot is either the company’s own or leased. A buyer of a detached house or a mökki (cottage, often by a lake) usually buys real property (kiinteistö), meaning the land and the buildings. The form of the sale, the taxes and the registration differ between the two. This is why flats are reported as a price per square metre and houses and cottages as a sale price per property.

The figures for apartments. Statistics Finland’s figure is the average price per square metre (€/m², arithmetic mean) of resale apartments in housing companies in 2025, covering all plot types. The statistic was updated on 19 May 2026. It is an average, not a median, and it covers resale homes only.

The figures for houses and cottages. The National Land Survey of Finland (Maanmittauslaitos) reports the median sale price per sale of real property. A median is the middle value: half of the sales were above it and half below. The statistics cover only properties on their own plot that were sold as a whole, and unpartitioned parts of a property (määräala). They do not cover housing company shares or houses on a leased plot (vuokratontti, land leased, often from the municipality). This article uses two of the National Land Survey’s categories:

• Built small residential property (asuinpientalokiinteistö): a statistical category covering detached and similar houses. It is not the same thing as “a detached house”. For this category, the statistics divide sales into areas with a detailed local plan (asemakaava-alue) and areas without one (haja-asutusalue).
• Built holiday property bordering a shore, under 2 hectares: the category used for cottages here. For this category, the division is different: areas with a master plan or shore plan (yleis- ja ranta-asemakaava-alue) and areas without a master plan or shore plan (also called haja-asutusalue).

Because the two series are divided differently, an area “without a plan” in the house figures is not the same area as in the cottage figures. This article shows the two separately.

Statistics Finland also publishes a separate quarterly series for old detached houses. It is a different statistic from the National Land Survey’s sale price per property, and the two are not combined.

Comparing countries. In the official statistics of the Nordic countries, housing prices are measured in different ways, so a direct comparison is only indicative. In Finland and Norway, the national figures are prices per square metre; in Sweden and Denmark, they are average prices per sale. The housing categories also differ from country to country. Eurostat’s house price index describes the change in prices, not the price level.

Europe and the Nordics: what official statistics show

This article covers Finland; Sweden, Norway and Denmark appear only through official price statistics.

Price change since 2015. According to Eurostat’s house price index, house prices in Finland in 2025 were, in nominal terms, roughly at the same level as in 2015, while over the same period they had risen by about a third in Sweden and by more than 50% in Denmark and Norway. The index describes the change in prices, not the price level. “Nominal” means that the figures are not adjusted for inflation. In other words, the index does not show where homes are cheapest.

Eurostat, house price index, annual data (prc_hpi_a), all dwellings, updated 1 October 2026. The index describes the change in prices, not the price level.

Eurostat’s index also shows the change from one year to the next. According to the index, prices in Finland were 3.1% lower in 2024 than in 2023 and 2.3% lower in 2025 than in 2024.

Eurostat, house price index, annual rate of change, all dwellings, updated 1 October 2026.

For the European Union as a whole, Eurostat’s house price index (2015 = 100) was 161.89 for the EU27 in 2025, compared with 99.03 for Finland. According to the index, prices in the EU27 rose by 5.5% in nominal terms in 2025, while in Finland they fell by 2.3%. The index describes the change in prices, not the price level.

National price statistics side by side. Each Nordic statistics agency publishes its own price figures, in its own currency and for its own housing categories. The table below sets a selection of them next to Finland’s figures. The currencies have not been converted, and the categories do not correspond to each other: the Swedish category permanenta småhus and the Danish enfamiliehuse are not the same as the Finnish small residential property, and the Swedish fritidshus and the Danish sommerhuse are not the same as a Finnish holiday property bordering a shore.

Swedish and Danish figures are averages; Finland’s National Land Survey figures are medians. SEK = Swedish kronor, DKK = Danish kroner. Currencies have not been converted.

In the official statistics of the Nordic countries, housing prices are measured in different ways, so a direct comparison is only indicative. The table shows what each agency reports; it does not show which country is cheaper.

For example, according to Statistics Norway (SSB), the average price per square metre of homes in 2025 was about 54,800 Norwegian kroner (NOK), measured by internal usable floor area (BRA-i) and covering all dwelling types (resale homes), while in Finland the average price per square metre of resale apartments in housing companies was €2,594 (about £2,200 / $2,900) (Statistics Finland).

Where are home prices lowest in Finland? Regional differences

According to Statistics Finland, prices of resale apartments in housing companies vary a great deal by region in Finland. Outside the Helsinki capital region, the average price per square metre in 2025 (€1,860 (about £1,600 / $2,100)) was less than half of that in the capital region (€4,270 (about £3,600 / $4,800)). For comparison, the average in the city of Helsinki was €4,983 per m² (about £4,200 / $5,600) in 2025.

By region. Finland is divided into regions (maakunta). In 2025, the average price per square metre of resale apartments in housing companies ranged across the regions of mainland Finland from €1,108 (about £930 / $1,200) in Etelä-Savo (South Savo) to €3,826 (about £3,200 / $4,300) in Uusimaa. The lowest average was in Etelä-Savo (€1,108 per m²), followed by Kymenlaakso (€1,127 (about £950 / $1,300)), Kainuu (€1,234 (about £1,000 / $1,400)) and Satakunta (€1,236 (about £1,000 / $1,400)).

Average (mean) price per m² of resale apartments in housing companies (taloyhtiö), 2025, a selection of the regions of mainland Finland. Åland is not included. Source: Statistics Finland, StatFin, table 13mw.

In small regions there are few sales (for example 473 in Keski-Pohjanmaa, Central Ostrobothnia), so individual sales affect the average. A terraced house (rivitalo) in these figures is usually part of a taloyhtiö, so the buyer acquires shares, not real property.

Smaller towns. Some smaller towns had averages well below the national figure. In 2025, the average price per square metre of resale apartments in housing companies was, for example, €1,325 (about £1,100 / $1,500) in Pori, €1,141 (about £960 / $1,300) in Savonlinna (on Lake Saimaa, Finland’s largest lake), €1,088 (about £920 / $1,200) in Kouvola, €1,184 (about £1,000 / $1,300) in Kotka and €1,240 (about £1,000 / $1,400) in Kajaani. In some smaller towns, such as Varkaus and Imatra, the average price per square metre was below €700 (about £590 / $790).

The table below lists the municipalities with the lowest averages among those that had at least 100 sales of resale apartments in housing companies in 2025. Municipalities with fewer sales are left out, because figures based on only a few sales are not presented here as price levels.

Municipalities with at least 100 sales in 2025, sorted by average (mean) price per m² of resale apartments in housing companies, all dwelling types. Our own selection from Statistics Finland, StatFin, table 13mx.

An average describes only the prices of the homes that were sold, not their condition. City-by-city figures for the larger cities are in our article on how much a house costs in Finland.

Cheap houses and cottages in Finland: what the sale prices show

For houses and cottages, which are usually bought as real property, the National Land Survey of Finland reports median sale prices per sale. These statistics do not cover housing company shares or houses on a leased plot.

Houses. According to the National Land Survey’s purchase price statistics, the median price of a built small residential property (detached and similar houses) was €150,000 (about £130,000 / $170,000) for the whole country in 2025.

The National Land Survey’s statistics service also splits the figures by type of area. In 2025, the national median for built small residential properties was €177,000 (about £150,000 / $200,000) in areas with a detailed local plan (8,643 sales) and €107,000 (about £90,000 / $120,000) in areas without a detailed local plan (5,755 sales). By region, the median in areas without a detailed local plan ranged from about €54,000 (about £46,000 / $61,000) in Satakunta to €210,000 (about £180,000 / $240,000) in Uusimaa. These figures come from a different breakdown to the €150,000 (about £130,000 / $170,000) national figure and are not added to or averaged with it.

Built small residential properties (asuinpientalokiinteistö, detached and similar houses) in areas without a detailed local plan (haja-asutusalue), 2025: number of sales and median sale price per sale, not a price per m². A selection of regions, sorted by median; the full regional table is in our article on house prices. Åland is not included. Source: National Land Survey of Finland, real property sales statistics service.

Cottages. A mökki is a cottage, often by a lake, used as a holiday home. For cottage prices, the National Land Survey reports figures for built holiday properties bordering a shore, under 2 hectares. According to its purchase price statistics, the median price of these properties in 2025 was €92,000 (about £78,000 / $100,000) in areas with a master plan or shore plan and €74,000 (about £62,000 / $83,000) in areas without a master plan or shore plan.

By region, the median in areas with a master plan or shore plan in 2025 was, for example, €183,000 (about £150,000 / $210,000) in Uusimaa, €90,000 (about £76,000 / $100,000) in Etelä-Savo, €57,000 (about £48,000 / $64,000) in Pohjois-Karjala and €60,000 (about £51,000 / $68,000) in Lapland. The median is a sale price per property, not a price per square metre, and the size and condition of the properties vary.

Built holiday properties bordering a shore, under 2 hectares, 2025: number of sales and median sale price per sale, a selection of regions. “Master or shore plan” = yleis- tai ranta-asemakaava-alue; “without” = haja-asutusalue in the cottage series. A dash means fewer than 30 sales. Åland is not included. Source: National Land Survey of Finland, real property sales statistics service.

A separate statistic: price per m² of old detached houses. According to Statistics Finland, the median price per square metre of old detached houses in April–June 2026 was about €1,400 per m² (about £1,200 / $1,600) for the whole country, about €3,300 per m² (about £2,800 / $3,700) in the capital region and about €750 per m² (about £630 / $840) in Eastern Finland (Statistics Finland, published 27 August 2026). “Eastern Finland” is a major region in Statistics Finland’s own classification, not one of the regions in the tables above. Quarterly figures fluctuate, and in Eastern Finland they fluctuate considerably: the quarterly median there was €749 per m² (about £630 / $840) in April–June 2026, and between €882 (about £740 / $990) and €1,076 per m² (about £910 / $1,200) during 2025. This series is a different statistic from the National Land Survey’s sale price per property, and the two are not combined.

What a low price can mean: location, condition and annual costs

A low figure in a statistic is a starting point. Location, condition and costs are worth looking at alongside it.

Location

The statistics describe where prices were lower. In 2025, the median price of built small residential properties was lower in areas without a detailed local plan (€107,000 (about £90,000 / $120,000)) than in areas with one (€177,000 (about £150,000 / $200,000)), and the average price per square metre of resale apartments in housing companies was lower outside the capital region than inside it (see the regional section above).

Condition

An average describes only the prices of the homes that were sold, not their condition. Likewise, for holiday properties, the median is a sale price per property, not a price per square metre, and the size and condition of the properties vary. A figure for a region therefore says nothing about any individual house or cottage.

For real property, such as a house or a cottage property, the Code of Real Estate sets a time limit for complaints about defects. A quality defect is to be reported within a reasonable time and, as a rule, no later than five years after possession was handed over. The seller cannot rely on this deadline in the same way if they have acted with gross negligence or in a manner that is dishonest and improper (Code of Real Estate, chapter 2).

Before buying, it is advisable to find out the condition of the building, its intended use and its annual costs. One way to look into the condition is a condition inspection (kuntotarkastus, a professional building inspection before purchase).

Costs on top of the price

The price is not the only cost of buying:

• Transfer tax on real property. For real property, such as a detached house or a cottage property, the buyer pays a transfer tax (varainsiirtovero, a tax paid by the buyer on transfer) of 3%.
• Transfer tax on housing company shares. The regional averages in this article concern apartments in housing companies. For housing company shares, the transfer tax is 1.5%. It is calculated on the debt-free price (velaton hinta): the purchase price (and any other consideration agreed) plus the share of the housing company’s loan (yhtiölaina) allocated to the shares, subject to the conditions in the Transfer Tax Act (section 20).
• Title registration. For real property, the National Land Survey charges €172 (about £150 / $190) for lainhuuto (registration of title to real property).
• Public purchase witnessing. Having a real property sale confirmed by a public purchase witness (kaupanvahvistaja, an official who witnesses real property sales) costs €143 (about £120 / $160).

The National Land Survey fees are from its price list (National Land Survey of Finland, price list, checked October 2026).

Tax rules in your country of residence may also apply; it is advisable to check with your own tax authority.

Annual real estate tax

The owner of real property also pays an annual real estate tax, billed by the Finnish Tax Administration (Verohallinto). The tax for the whole year is paid by whoever owns the property on 1 January. The rates depend on what is taxed, and the 2026 ranges are:

Source: Finnish Tax Administration, real estate tax rates.

Buying as a foreign buyer: the permit and Åland in brief

When real property is acquired by a person who does not have the citizenship of an EU or EEA country, or by an entity in which a party from outside the EU and the EEA holds at least 10% ownership or equivalent influence, the law requires a permit from the Ministry of Defence (Puolustusministeriö). The permit concerns real property (for example a detached house with its plot or a cottage property), not housing company shares. The law does not apply to Åland, which has its own land acquisition legislation.

In Åland, acquiring real property (including a cottage property) usually requires a land acquisition permit from the Government of Åland (Ålands landskapsregering) if the buyer does not have the Åland right of domicile. According to the Government of Åland, buying housing company shares does not require a permit unless the company’s own land acquisition permit requires it. Åland’s rules differ from those of mainland Finland, and it is advisable to check them with the Government of Åland.

Whether the permit is needed therefore depends on the buyer’s citizenship and, for entities, on ownership and influence. The details of the permit, including its deadline and fees, are explained in our guide to buying property in Finland as a foreigner.

According to the Finnish Immigration Service (Maahanmuuttovirasto, Migri), owning land, real property or housing company shares in Finland is not in itself sufficient grounds for a residence permit or citizenship. Information on residence: Finnish Immigration Service (Migri).

What comes next

Price is only one part of the picture. Who can buy, how the purchase works and what owning a home involves are explained in separate articles: buying property in Finland as a foreigner, how much a house costs in Finland, buying a summer cottage in Finland and property taxes and costs in Finland.

Home Of Homes aims to make buying, owning and renting out a home in Finland simpler – in one place, also when you live abroad.

FAQ

Where are the cheapest houses in Finland?

Prices vary by region. For built small residential properties (detached and similar houses) in areas without a detailed local plan, the lowest regional median in 2025 was in Satakunta, at about €54,000 (about £46,000 / $61,000) per sale (National Land Survey of Finland, median). For resale apartments in housing companies, the lowest regional averages in 2025 were in Etelä-Savo (€1,108 per m² (about £930 / $1,200)) and Kymenlaakso (€1,127 per m² (about £950 / $1,300)) (Statistics Finland, averages). The regional and house sections above have the full figures.

Is property in Finland cheaper than in Sweden?

In the official statistics of the Nordic countries, housing prices are measured in different ways, so a direct comparison is only indicative. According to Eurostat’s house price index, prices in Finland in 2025 were, in nominal terms, roughly at the same level as in 2015, while over the same period they had risen by about a third in Sweden. The index describes the change in prices, not the price level. The national figures of both countries are shown side by side in the section on Europe and the Nordics above.

What should I check before buying a low-priced house in Finland?

It is worth looking into the condition of the building, its intended use and its annual costs, as described in the section on what a low price can mean. On top of the price, the buyer of real property, such as a house or a cottage property, pays a transfer tax of 3%. For buying rules, see the section on foreign buyers above.

How much does a house cost outside the Helsinki region?

For apartments, Statistics Finland’s 2025 average for resale apartments in housing companies outside the Helsinki capital region was €1,860 per m² (about £1,600 / $2,100); this is a figure for apartments, not houses. For houses, the figures in this article are by region: in areas without a detailed local plan, the 2025 median for built small residential properties was, for example, €97,500 (about £82,000 / $110,000) in Pohjois-Savo, €90,000 (about £76,000 / $100,000) in Keski-Suomi and €140,000 (about £120,000 / $160,000) in Pirkanmaa (National Land Survey of Finland, median per sale).

Related articles

• How much does a house cost in Finland? Prices by region
• Where to buy a house in Finland: cities and regions compared
• Buying a summer cottage (mökki) in Finland
• Property taxes and costs of buying a home in Finland

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Sources

• Statistics Finland: Prices of old dwellings in housing companies, table 13mw and municipal table 13mx (in Finnish)
• Statistics Finland: Prices of old detached houses, table 15hw and statistics documentation (in Finnish)
• National Land Survey of Finland: Number of real property sales grew in Finland in 2025, press release 25 February 2026 (in Finnish)
• National Land Survey of Finland: Real property sales statistics (in Finnish) and the real property sales statistics service, indicators 2311, 2313, 2501, 2503, 5111, 5113, 5311 and 5313
• National Land Survey of Finland: Apartments and Price list, real property (in Finnish)
• Eurostat: House price index, annual data (prc_hpi_a)
• Statistics Sweden (SCB): Statistical database, real estate prices (BO0501) (in Swedish)
• Statistics Norway (SSB): Table 14545
• Statistics Denmark: Table EJEN88
• Finnish Tax Administration: Transfer tax, buying real property and Transfer tax, buyer of a flat
• Finnish Tax Administration: Real estate tax rates and Paying real estate tax
• Ministry of Defence: Authorisation to non-EU and non-EEA buyers to buy real estate
• Government of Åland: Jordförvärv på Åland (in Swedish)
• Finnish Immigration Service (Migri): FAQ on residence permits
• Finlex (legislation in Finnish or Swedish): Housing Companies Act 1599/2009, Act 470/2019 on the permit, Code of Real Estate 540/1995 and Transfer Tax Act 931/1996

Information checked: October 2026. Rules and prices change; check current details from the sources above.

Currency conversions are approximate and based on the European Central Bank's reference rates of 16 October 2026.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Home Of Homes is a platform, not a real estate agent.