Housing prices up 42% in whale watching town Húsavík

Húsavík is best known for whale watching.

Húsavík is best known for whale watching. Photo: Iceland Monitor/Sigurður Bogi Sævarsson

Estimated housing prices in Húsavík, North Iceland, have skyrocketed over the course of one year. According to a new report from Statistics Iceland, estimated housing prices have risen 13.8% on average in Iceland and 15-20% in Reykjavik, but nowhere have they risen nearly as much as in Húsavík.

“I can’t remember a rise so high which could not be explained by a different methodology in the evaluation,” says Ingi Finnsson of Statistics Iceland. He believes this is a unique example.

There are a few likely reasons for this. The town is a popular tourist destination, known for whale watching tours. A large scale industry is being built up close to the town, which means there are many construction workers residing in the area, most of them will be replaced by future staff when the time comes to open. Next year a tunnel will open through Vaðlaheiði, which will make the trip to Akureyri, the biggest town in the area, much easier. All these things are likely factors of the immense rise in real estate prices.

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