What affects the price of a flat?

The price of a flat is determined first and foremost by a handful of concrete factors. If you want to know what determines the price of a flat, one factor in particular carries the most weight: location. It is the biggest single factor, and it is also the only one that neither buyer nor seller can change.

Neighbourhoods within the same municipality can differ in price by up to 30 per cent, and being close to a station or the S-train can raise the price per square metre by 10-20 % compared with similar homes further from the station.

The five factors that really set the price of a flat are location, condition, layout, the owners’ association and energy. Each of them plays a part, but they do not carry equal weight.

Here is the ranking of how much the different factors typically affect the price:

1. Location and neighbourhood (decisive, cannot be changed)

2. Floor area and plot size (very high)

3. Type of home (high)

4. Roof, windows and installations (high, can be changed but expensive)

5. Practicality of the layout (medium to high)

6. The market and interest rates (medium to high)

7. Energy label (medium)

8. Kitchen and bathroom (medium)

9. Maintenance and tidiness (low to medium)

10. Furnishing and colour choices (low)

Location and property prices

When it comes to setting the price of a flat, location is the factor that carries the most weight. It is also the only factor that neither buyer nor seller can change.

At municipal level, the differences are clear. In the 2nd quarter of 2026, Københavns Kommune had an average price of 75.120 kr. per m², while Frederiksberg Kommune stood at 83.530 kr. per m². The latter is the highest price ever recorded in any Danish municipality. Indre By (the city centre) and Frederiksberg are therefore at the top, while Amager and Valby offer lower prices for comparable homes.

Zoom in on individual neighbourhoods and the picture becomes even more nuanced. Two areas relatively close to each other can sell at quite different prices per square metre, and the time on the market tells you something about how quickly homes change hands.

If you are looking for a rental home in Copenhagen, location is especially important, because it has a direct effect on the price:

• A location in Indre By or another very central area has a strong effect on the rent.

• Living close to the metro or S-train pushes the price up moderately to significantly.

• A balcony, a lift or a view also raises the rent moderately to significantly.

Condition and layout – factors that affect the price of a home

When looking at owner-occupied flats, few people notice how little the age of the building really matters. It is the floor level, a lift, a balcony and the view that carry the most weight. A third-floor flat without a lift can lose considerably in value compared with a similar home with a lift, while a balcony or an unobstructed view pulls in the opposite direction.

Size also plays a part, but in a way that often surprises people. Smaller flats have a higher price per square metre but a lower total price. The price per square metre falls the larger the home is, so a small 50 m² flat can have a higher price per m² than a 120 m² flat in the same stairwell, even though its total price is far lower.

Renovations are one of the factors that affect a home’s price, and there is money to be made here, but you rarely get the full amount back:

• Renovated kitchens, bathrooms and installations increase the value significantly.

• A new kitchen costs 60.000-200.000 kr. and rarely pays for itself in full.

• A new bathroom costs 80.000-250.000 kr.

The practicality of the layout ranks as having a medium to high effect, and it is worth including in your calculations. Even in the same building, light, noise, layout and state of repair can make two flats hard to compare. That is why it makes no sense to fixate on the price per square metre alone. Two homes of the same size can be very different to live in.

Flat prices and the finances of the owners’ association

If you buy an owner-occupied flat, you also buy into an owners’ association (ejerforening). That is why the accounts, the shared costs and the planned works are often the first things a buyer’s adviser asks to see. The association’s figures tell you what expenses lie ahead of you in the coming years.

As a buyer, you become a member of the owners’ association and share in both the rights and the costs of the building and the communal areas. This means that the association’s decisions become yours too.

There are a handful of documents you should go through before you make an offer:

• The owners’ association information form (ejerlejlighedsskema)

• The articles of association

• The latest minutes of general meetings

• The accounts

• The budget

• Information on maintenance work

Two flats can be listed at the same price and still be very different deals. Imagine two homes with an identical asking price, where one owners’ association has approved a facade project that is not covered by savings or existing financing. Then there is a bill on its way to you as the new owner, and that changes the flat’s real value, even though the price tags look the same.

The difference between the types of home is worth knowing here. For a cooperative home (andelsbolig), the market price cannot exceed the maximum price, and the cooperative’s finances carry the most weight. With an owner-occupied flat, the value also depends on the association’s financial obligations, so the price of an owner-occupied flat is never a figure in isolation.

The energy label and the price of a flat

The label is required by law for buildings over 60 m², and this applies to all types of home. An energy consultant inspects the building and places it on a scale from A to G, where A is best and G worst. The label itself is valid for 10 years, so it may well turn up again at a later sale without having to be redone.

Homes under 60 m² are exempt from the requirement, and holiday homes do not need an energy label at all.

The owners’ association must provide the seller with a valid energy label free of charge and has 60 days to do so. The seller is then responsible for making sure that you, as the buyer, receive the label. The label is drawn up for the whole property, so the same label can be reused when other flats in the building are sold within its period of validity.

An improved energy label can raise the sale price by an average of about 500 kr. per square metre for each letter the label improves. For a 100 m² house, that is about 50.000 kr. That figure has been studied for houses, and there are no concrete figures for what a better label does to the price of a flat. The direction is the same, but you cannot transfer the amount directly.

Homes with a good energy label sell at higher prices per square metre and spend less time on the market than homes with a poor label. A low label, however, is not a deal-breaker. It affects running costs and therefore how much a buyer can borrow, and it gives you a bargaining point in the negotiation if you are looking at a flat with a weak label.

Flat prices and property prices: the market and your valuation

In the 2nd quarter of 2026, owner-occupied flats set a new record with an average price of 44.816 kr. per m². That is the highest level ever measured, leaving inflation aside. For an 80 m² owner-occupied flat, the national average works out at about 3.585.000 kr., so those are the figures you are typically up against when you assess what a home is worth today.

From the 2nd quarter of 2025 to the 2nd quarter of 2026, prices rose 18,6 per cent nationwide, and the rises are spread across the whole country. The cities, however, have not followed the same curve:

• Copenhagen was up 24,2 per cent.

• Frederiksberg was up 22,2 per cent.

• Aarhus was up 14,5 per cent.

• Odense was up 12,9 per cent.

• Aalborg was up 8,8 per cent.

Looking ahead, the forecasts suggest that the rises will continue, but at a more subdued pace. Nykredit expects prices to rise 5,7 per cent this year, 3,0 per cent the year after and 2,2 per cent in the third year. According to its price projections, Nordea expects an average 80 m² owner-occupied flat to rise about 300.000 kr. in value from 2026 to 2027.

A strong offer on an owner-occupied flat is built on comparable sales, the correct floor area and the owners’ association’s documents. A low offer on its own is not enough. At Brikk, this is exactly the basis we use when valuing a flat, so the price reflects what the home is really worth rather than a random figure.

Also read: What affects the price of a house?