Many owner-occupied flats for sale in Copenhagen – what does it mean?

A large supply of owner-occupied flats in Copenhagen means more choice for you as a buyer and stiffer competition for you as a seller. But the picture is always local, and two flats in the same neighbourhood can differ widely in condition, paperwork and owners’ association. That is why a general picture of many homes for sale in Copenhagen says very little about what things look like exactly where you are looking.

As a buyer, having lots of homes for sale gives you more time to compare several flats before you decide. That is a real advantage, because a buyer’s market is very much about being able to pick and choose without having to snap something up straight away. But every flat still has to be judged on its own merits, so your time is best spent getting to the bottom of each individual home rather than chasing the perfect overview.

As a seller, a large supply means that buyers have more alternatives to choose from. That makes a realistic price and a clear presentation all the more important, because your flat is being compared with the one next door at a time when there is a lot to compare it with. The market can also vary between neighbourhoods, types of home and even floors, so local supply and the local time on the market tell you more than a national average.

The rest of this article gives you practical tools for both buying and selling, so you can assess your own situation instead of getting hung up on the big, general picture.

Time on the market and supply: why the figures fluctuate over the year

When you read about lots of homes for sale, it is worth knowing what the figures actually measure. ‘Homes for sale’ is the number of homes observed online at the end of the month. ‘Time on the market’ is the average number of days that the homes taken off the market during the month had been for sale.

• Current time on the market only counts the period with the current estate agent.

• Total time on the market follows the home for up to several years under its current owner, even if the owner changes estate agent.

If a flat has changed estate agent along the way, the current time on the market can look short, while the total time on the market shows that the owner has been trying to sell it for a long time. When you look at the time on the market for an owner-occupied flat, it is the total time on the market that gives the most honest picture of how long someone has really been trying to sell.

The figures fluctuate over the year, and that is not a sign that anything is wrong. The season plays a part, because more people both put their homes up for sale and buy at certain times of year. Interest rate changes affect how many people are able and willing to buy at all. New builds add new homes to the picture and shift both supply and time on the market.

The point is that a short time on the market can mean several things. It can be a sign that a home is priced correctly, but it can also be because, for a while, a lot of new homes have come onto the market relative to the existing stock, which pulls the average down. So you should not read a single figure as a verdict on the market.

There is also a caveat that many people overlook. The supply statistics do not include sale prices, selling times or the number of sales. They show advertised prices, in other words what sellers are asking, and so cannot be taken as the final word on what your home is worth. Reading adverts is one thing; knowing your own home’s real starting point is another.

Selling an owner-occupied flat in Copenhagen: pricing, preparation and documentation

In practice, four things decide how your home meets the market when you sell an owner-occupied flat in Copenhagen: price, condition, photos and documentation. They are what the buyer and their advisers see first, and they are where you can make a difference yourself.

• Set a realistic asking price from the start, so the home reaches buyers in the price range where comparable flats actually sell, instead of having to be reduced later.

• Get the flat physically ready: tidy up, remove personal items and create light and space, so the buyer can see the size and potential of the rooms.

• Use professional photos that show the layout, the daylight and the rooms buyers care about. The photos are often the first test of whether the flat makes the shortlist.

• Have full documentation ready: the owners’ association’s minutes, accounts, budget and maintenance plan, and a BBR notice (from the Danish building register) that matches the actual layout, so the buyer’s advisers do not run into any uncertainties.

Precisely because buyers have so much to choose from, these four things together decide whether your flat stands out or gets lost in the crowd.

Buying an owner-occupied flat in Copenhagen: check the owners’ association and the documents before you sign

When supply is high, your best protection is to take your time and read the paperwork before you sign. This is how you can buy an owner-occupied flat in Copenhagen on an informed basis, instead of getting carried away by an impressive viewing.

• Ask for a complete, up-to-date document pack: the owners’ association information form (ejerlejlighedsskema), articles of association, house rules, minutes of general meetings, the latest annual accounts, budget, details of any joint loans and the maintenance plan, if there is one.

• Read the minutes to see what the owners have actually decided. A project can appear in a plan without having been approved, while the minutes may contain a binding decision that is not yet in an older budget.

• Check the shared costs and upcoming renovations by comparing the accounts with the budget, and find out whether major works will be paid for from savings, a joint loan, extra contributions or higher ongoing shared costs.

• Use a lawyer’s reservation and a financing reservation with written deadlines, and ask for an extension before the deadline runs out if key documents are missing. The statutory right of withdrawal has its own conditions and cannot replace a timely review.

A thorough check of the owners’ association before you buy costs you a few days now and can save you from unpleasant surprises once the flat has been handed over to you.

Why a late price reduction rarely makes up for the right price from the start

A flat that has been on the market for a long time sends a signal, whatever the explanation. Buyers often read a long time on the market as a sign that the price is too high, or that there is something about the home that makes it less attractive. That applies even when the real explanation is something else entirely, such as a weak market or an unlucky time to sell.

When a price reduction on an owner-occupied flat only comes after a long period on the market, the first wave of interested buyers has already gone. They saw the home when it came onto the market, assessed it and moved on. That audience is hard to win back, because they were active in exactly the price range where the home sat, and they have long since started looking at something else. The reduction itself can also be read as a sign of weakness, as buyers wonder why the seller is only cutting the price now.

The right price from the outset, on the other hand, gives the home a better chance of being seen by exactly the buyers who are actively searching in that price range. The point is the pricing from the start, not a promise of how quickly or at what price the home will sell. It is about being positioned correctly in the market while interest is at its peak.

A late price change should also be read with caution. Asking prices and final listing prices only show what was advertised. They do not capture discounts, offers above the asking price or the final sale price, so a figure on the screen does not tell you what anyone actually paid.

Buy before you sell or sell before you buy: choose based on your finances – and get a free valuation

Whether you should buy before you have sold, or sell first and buy afterwards, is essentially a question of your finances and your appetite for risk. There is no single right answer, because it depends on how well your finances can carry a transition period and how much uncertainty you are willing to live with. So selling first or buying first is not about what is smartest in general, but about what suits your particular situation.

Before you decide on the order, it is worth talking to your bank or adviser about your finances, so you understand your own situation and know how much you can really afford. If you know the starting point for your current flat, it also becomes easier to judge what you can offer on the next one. At Brikk, you can get a free valuation of your flat, so you know your home’s starting point before you decide.