Norwegian Property, Fredensborg Bolig and Union Real Estate Fund III have acquired Veidekke Eiendom from Veidekke ASA for about NOK 8.3 billion. At 31 December 2019, this company had 1 575 homes under construction and a land bank equivalent to some 15 500 units in Norway and Sweden.

A DNB Markets club deal has acquired Drammen Business Center (Dr Hansteins gate 9) from Bane Nor Eiendom for NOK 740 million. This 13 000 m2 office building is leased to such tenants as KPMG, the Norwegian Public Roads Administration and the county governor of Oslo and Viken, with a remaining lease duration of 10 years. Annual rental income amounts to about NOK 35 million.

A club deal arranged by NRP Finans and Pareto Securities has acquired Toveien 35 and 39 in Vestby from DSV Panalpina A/S. This 58 000 m2 logistics building is due for completion in August 2020. The seller has signed a sale and leaseback agreement.

Norges Bank resolved to keep its base rate unchanged at zero per cent in the interest-rate meeting on 18 June. The central bank envisages keeping the rate unchanged until 2023.

Statistics Norway: The consumer price index (CPI) rose by 1.3 per cent from May 2019 to May 2020. Over the same period, the consumer price index adjusted for tax changes and excluding energy products (CPI-ATE) was up by three per cent. The CPI increased by 0.2 per cent from April to May 2020, with the CPI-ATE rising 0.1 per cent.

Statistics Norway: Seasonally adjusted figures from the labour force survey showed that unemployment in May 2020 was at 5.2 per cent. The three-month average from March to May was 4.2 per cent.

Opinion: The consumer confidence index (CCI) was negative at 0.8 points in June, up from a negative 4.4 points in May. It was thus 12.5 points higher than the low point in April 2020.

UNION: Office vacancy in Oslo was 5.7 per cent in the second quarter, an increase of 0.2 percentage points over the past six months. The vacancy rate is now 0.3 percentage points higher than the same period of last year.

Statistics Norway: Gross domestic product for mainland Norway in February-April was down by 4.6 per cent compared with January-March, according to seasonally adjusted figures. GDP fell by 4.7 per cent from March to April, and is now 11.3 per cent lower than in February.

Arctic Real Estate Development has acquired Gamle Hovsetervei 3 at Røa in Oslo from the Norwegian Directorate of Public Construction and Property for NOK 305 million. The buyer envisages developing housing on the 1.3-hectare site.

A Realkapital Investor club deal has sold Rosenkrantz gate 19 and 21 in central Oslo. This 3 500 m2 office building is leased to such tenants as Gram and Grail. The buyer, who is unknown, envisages further development of the property.

Fremre Eiendom has acquired Carl Konows Gate 34 at Damsgård in Bergen from Lacal AS. The 7 400 m2 office building is leased to such tenants as OneCo.

Norsk Hydros Pensjonskasse has renegotiated its lease with IF Forsikring in Drammensveien 264 at Lysaker in Oslo. The insurance company will occupy 18 000 m2 in the 63 700 m2 office building.

Höegh Eiendom has signed a lease with Dentsu Aegis Network for 4 000 m2 at Kristian Augusts gate 23 in central Oslo. The multinational media company has signed a 10-year lease, and will move into the 8 000 m2 office building – now fully leased – at the end of 2021.

UNION’s bank survey for the second quarter of 2020 reveals an average bank margin of 248 basis points (bps) for financing office properties in central Oslo with a 65 per cent loan to value (LTV). That is up by 45 bps from the previous quarter and 42 bps higher than a year earlier. The 5-year swap rate on the other hand, has fallen 131 basis points since the first quarter. The overall financing costs for five-year loans with full interest rate hedging throughout their term is thus 2.92 per cent.