House Prices in Denmark: What Should You Expect in 2023

Housing prices in Denmark range from reasonable to extravagant, but fierce competition for available units and laws and customs detrimental to foreigners can put a damper on your plans. Besides, they tend to rise by between 2 and 12 percent per year. Here is some essential information you should know about the local housing market if you are planning on relocating or investing in real estate in the region. 

The average cost of a two-bedroom family house in Denmark is 2,656,115 DKK or about 18,910 DKK per square meter. On average, owner-occupied flats cost about 38,145 DKK per square meter. The local housing market is quite competitive due to the low entry requirements and availability of affordable loans.

What house prices can you expect in Denmark? While prices for family houses and apartment units near the city centers can be exorbitant, that isn’t the only issue.

You will find that the local market is intensively competitive due to extremely low down payment requirements and the ready availability of loans with very reasonable terms. Furthermore, local customs and sentiments tend to be slanted against foreigners. 

How much does a house cost in Denmark?

In 2022, houses in Denmark sold for an average of 2,656,115 DKK. Apartments cost an average of 35,438 DKK per square meter near the city center. Units further out cost around 24,798 DKK per square meter on average.

That said, the average price per square meter is 16,507 DKK nationwide. An average house of 145 m² in size will cost you 2.4 million DKK (end of 2022).

If you are looking for an apartment, here are the average prices as of January 2022:

Municipality	Price/m² in DKK	Change from 01.01.2021
Copenhagen	51,251	9.8%
Aarhus	38,493	9.0%
Frederiksberg	57,486	11.1%
Aalborg	22,000	4.8%
Gentofte	47,631	10.2%
Odense	24,299	7.8%
Høje-Taastrup	25,949	10.1%
Roskilde	29,992	6.1%
Gladsaxe	34,349	10.7%
Randers	10,807	6.4%

The difference in house prices is astonishing in Denmark. So in Frederiksberg, you pay 73,492 DKK per square meter and 3,050 DKK per square meter in Horslunde.

In the past years – from the 4th quarter of 2020 to the 4th quarter of 2021 – house prices have risen by 9.5% nationwide (across 82 municipalities).

Commonly, the largest increases happen in the metropolitan area, and so it’s in Denmark. In some municipalities, house prices have risen by more than 20%, e.g., in Hørsholm, Helsingør, Dragør, Lejre, Furesø, Hvidovre and Gladsaxe municipalities.

Therefore, the current prices of houses represent an increase of 20.8% over the same period during the previous year. In 2018, a 140-square-meter house would have cost only 1,923,000 DKK on average.

In the intervening years, housing prices increased steadily, reaching as much as 2.5 million DKK for a single-family house in 2020. Nevertheless, this was still below the current price of 2.66 million DKK.  

Unfortunately for prospective buyers, the increase in property prices is expected to continue well into 2023.

Furthermore, you can expect considerable regional variance in the prices of housing units, so it’s worth considering that when deciding between living in Copenhagen and smaller cities in Denmark.

Danish real estate market

Nowadays, houses in Denmark are selling for higher prices than ever across the country, and most properties listed for sale are completed.

But even though prices are at record-high levels than anything previously registered, the actual values can be as much as 14% lower than 2007 rates because of inflation.

Back then, the local real estate market was overheated, portending the impending financial crisis that would hit the following year.

Thankfully, no such warning signs are observable at present. Furthermore, mortgages are more affordable than ever due to low interest rates, and salaries are much higher as well.

Despite these high prices, 50,644 detached houses were sold in 2021 – the highest number since 2004.

Average house prices in Denmark in 2023

From June 2021 to January 2022, there has been a steady increase in the prices for all types of housing units across nearly all regions in Denmark.

Data gathered by the Association of Danish Mortgage Banks (ADMB) revealed that current prices for owner-occupied flats average 38,145 DKK/m², representing an 11.6% year-on-year increase since the previous year. 

Detached house prices exhibited a similar trend, increasing by 11.1% to an average of 18,910 DKK/m². The most significant growth was recorded in the price of holiday homes, which increased by a whopping 22.1% and averaged 23,859 DKK/m².

Local real-estate observers might recall much more favorable prices only a few years back. In 2018, you might have been able to purchase a 140-square-meter home for just over 1.9 million DKK. By 2020, a similar single-family house could have cost as much as 2.5 million DKK.

As in most countries, there is considerable variation in property prices from region to region in Denmark. For example, a 140-square-meter house might cost 5 million DKK in Copenhagen. A similar unit might cost just 1.2 million DKK in western Jutland and only 990,000 DKK in Bornholm.

Here is how prices have increased in various Danish regions:

• North Zealand: 16.6%
• Surroundings of Copenhagen: 15.3%
• Copenhagen city: 14.7%
• East Zealand: 14.1%
• Bornholm: 12.6%
• West and South Zealand: 8.7%
• Fyn: 5,8 %
• South Jutland: 5.2%
• East Jutland: 4.8%
• North Jutland: 3.0%
• West Jutland: 1.2%

Nonetheless, there are still some affordable homes waiting for you. In 2022, the cheapest places in Denmark to purchase a house were:

Municipality	Price per m² (DKK)
Morsø	5.269
Haderslev	6.947
Guldborgsund	6.831
Norddjurs	6.962
Ærø (Aero)	8.050
Samsø (Samso)	10.621
Silkeborg	14.734
Lejre	18.720

The price difference in cities:

• city center – 35,438 DKK/m²
• suburbs – 24,798 DKK/m²

Nowadays, an apartment near the city center might set you back as much as 35,438.79 DKK per m². If you are willing to move further out toward the outskirts of town, prices will be much more reasonable at 24,798.12 DKK on average.

Buying a house in Denmark

There are certain crucial factors that you should know about the Danish real estate market, which could affect your ability to find reasonably-priced housing. For one thing, there are plenty of very affordable subsidized social units available.

If you can somehow find a way to rent one of these apartment units, you will be paying much less than you would for a similar place on the open market. 

Of course, competition for these apartments is pretty fierce, as you can imagine. Most landlords favor local tenants (more on that later), and there are usually long waiting lists.

But if you are fortunate enough to secure one, your rent will be so low that you will have a lot more funds to pour into high-yield investment assets that promise higher returns than real estate property.

You should also be aware that the Danish real estate market is intensely competitive, especially when dealing in the lower-end of the price range.

If you have your sights set on a piece of property in the one to three million DKK range, you will likely be up against dozens of prospective buyers, if not more. 

Why such fierce competition? Entry requirements for property ownership are extremely low in Denmark. Many lenders offer loans at highly favorable terms, and even bank down payments are only 5% of the property’s value. 

Finally, it should also be said that local policies, customs, and sentiments tend to be slanted against foreigners looking to purchase real estate.

This is true to some degree in many countries, of course. But these factors can be especially challenging in Denmark for expats planning to buy or even rent a property. 

Banks and financial advisors tend to save the best deals for locals. If you walk into any major financial institution without a local contact or a solid recommendation, you can pretty much forget about getting the same perks and privileges as a Danish borrower. 

What this means in real-world terms is that while a Dane might be expected to pay only 5% of the property price as a down payment, a foreigner might have to pay 10%, 15%, or even more. 

Furthermore, you might not have the same loan options available to you, such as “no repayments” plans or annually adjusted interest rates. And chances are, your maximum loan amount will be much lower as compared to what local residents can borrow. 

Understand that these restrictions aren’t necessarily about discrimination. Most banks and lending institutions have a logical reason to shy away from foreign borrowers.

If the local real estate market crashes, for example, and property prices are halved, foreigners are likely to foreclose the property, default on their obligations, and go back to their homeland, leaving the bank to deal with the loss. 

In contrast, most Danish borrowers don’t have this option and are more likely to stay and deal with the consequences. Because banks are often powerless to prosecute foreigners after they have left the country.

They would rather refuse or make it more difficult for them to secure loans than be saddled with a house in negative equity. (Source: marioscian.medium.com).

House prices in Copenhagen 

Purchase prices and rental rates in Copenhagen are generally much higher than in other parts of the country. In the third quartal of 2022, the average house price per square meter in the Danish capital was 51,115 DKK.

Therefore, an average home of 140 m² would cost 7,156,100 DKK or 1,027,727 USD.

Even back in 2018, when average sale prices all over Denmark were well below the 1.6 million DKK mark, a 140-square-meter house in the capital would have set you back as much as 1,923,000 DKK.

Nowadays, prices for outright purchases are considerably higher. These days, you could expect a similarly-sized house to cost you more than 5 million DKK.

In comparison, a similar home would cost only 1.2 million DKK in western Jutland and 990,000 DKK in Bornholm.

Apartments in Copenhagen can be quite costly as well. In 2021, the average prices of owner-occupied units increased by 14.4%, with flats costing an average of 49,576 DKK/m².

You might have to pay as much as 54,675 DKK per square meter near the city center if you want to purchase an apartment outright. Further away from the city center, prices are a much more reasonable 37,843 DKK per square meter on average.

If you are planning on renting an apartment in Copenhagen instead of purchasing one, you will likely have to pay 16,600 DKK per month on average.

Here are some statistics on apartment rentals in Denmark’s capital city: 

No. of rooms	Location	Average monthly rent (DKK)
1	City center	11,548
1	Outside of center	8,681
3	City center	17,820
3	Outside of center	14,096