What is the impact of the down payment requirement on the housing market in Oslo?

Abstract

On March 1st 2010 the Norwegian government implemented a down payment requirement of 10%, later increased to 15% on December 1st 2011. The down payment requirement states the amount of equity needed to be applicable for a mortgage. In this thesis, we investigate how the down payment requirement has affected the housing prices in Oslo with the goal of increasing knowledge on how governmental actions impact the housing market. By monitoring the buying and rental market in the timespan between 2008 and 2015, we investigate how housing prices have developed using quantitative methodology. Governmental intervention on the housing market is a topic considered to be of high interest, however, we find the research done on down payment requirements in Norway to be insufficient. Through our research, we argue that the down payment requirement had no impact on the housing market in Oslo.