Statistics Norway Unable To Forecast House Prices - Lacks Money

No, seriously. According to this article, Statistics Norway (SSB) has exceeded its budget (due to budget overrun in new SSB website development) and can't publish forecasts in 2013 as often as it's done before. While waiting for Torbjørn Eika to come out and let us know what he thinks of the house prices going forward (which he must do, as this is an eagerly anticipated report?!), I'll extend SSB a helping hand:

SSB House price forecast for 2013-2016 - September 26, 2013

A significantly weakening sentiment in the real estate market during the summer has collided with a strong increase in supply of new dwellings, causing SSB to lower its forecast for 2013-2016 house price growth. Still, in stark contrast to the growing number of fear-mongering bloggers and so called "experts" (employed by banks) who anticipate falling prices, SSB expects a healthy growth in house prices during the next three years, driven by strong Norwegian economy and low interest rates.

So the party is not over, there's still enough punch in the fridge (which was upgraded last week, btw, thanks to a "reverse mortgage") to fill the bowl and no one can take away the hard-earned wealth of the Norwegian homeowner. We call this a democratic triumph, as 83 % of us own a house and the trickle-down effects will take care of the less fortunate 17 % - this is truly a tide that lifts all the boats. Hurra! Hurra! Hurra!