In 2020, which was defined by the pandemic of coronavirus, land agents also had a busy year when record numbers of homes were sold in Denmark.
Sales of all housing types were above average, with a total of 107,000 homes sold across the country. houses for sale
The figure represents a 22% rise over the previous year and by far the highest since Boligsiden recorded the data a decade ago.
READ ALSO: Housing sales for November reached record highs
Unforeseen and unparalleled
When the housing market came to an end in March with the rest of the economy, few anticipated the volume of sales that would follow – including Birgit Daetz, Head of Communications at Boligsiden.
"We've been unsure for a long time if it ever would come to life again, but it's done it with renewed vigour. It was a great year for the housing market – we didn't expect that at all," Erhverv Plus said.
Low interest rates also contributed to sales by reducing the financial pressure of large purchases.
Drive of staycations
The failure of Danes to travel abroad was a key reason for such a dramatic increase. Recent years have already seen domestic holiday homes' sales increase, but the pandemic has caused an enormous increase in demand.
"The lock-up and the huge travel restrictions have led many to purchase a house where the family can spend their holiday," Daetz said.
The sales of holiday homes increased 55% on the previous year, well beyond the surprising increase of 17% and 15% in townhouses and condos respectively.
Corporations prevent corona-induced bankruptcies
Despite fears at the start of the year, there were the lowest number of bankruptcies declared in 2020 since 2015. Of the 5,614 bankruptcies declared, 2,221 were from active companies - those that were most concerned when the pandemic hit Denmark in March. Apparently, extensive aid packages and support schemes have left many companies out of the red, although they have not prevented a significant increase in unemployment. Yet 2020 has been a year in which hotels and restaurants are at risk of bankruptcy three times over the overall average.
Unemployment is dropping again
In Denmark, gross unemployment dropped by 3,200 to 127,700 between October and November – the sixth month in a row. At the same time, the unemployment rate dropped from 0.1% to 4.5%. However, it has still to fall at pre-pandemic levels, but the fact that unemployment falls across age and gender is cause for optimism at least.
New trains arrive to deal with congestion
At the end of the year, the last of eight new trains will take the metro lines M1 and M2 in Copenhagen, bringing the total to 42. Many might be surprised at a time when public transport is in short supply, but Metroselskabet is hoping that the new trains will facilitate rush-hour congestion when things return to normal. In order to create more space, the new trains will be positioned in front of the windows.
Danes are flashing the money
After years of decline, Finans said that this year saw a surprise record high in the amount of physical cash circulating. During the second quarter last year, figures from the Danmark SNB show that 73 billion crowns were in circulation with physical cash, which equates to an average of 12 565 crowns each handling by Dane. Overall, the majority of 1000-kroner banknotes make up this figure.
MobilPay transfers to one million a day
A total of 351 million transactions took place last year in Denmark via MobilePay, with a total of 123 billion crowns being moved over the payment platform. The traffic is up 6 percent and the volume is up 20 percent compared to the previous year. Launched in 2013, the service is free for individuals and companies pay a small fee for the service.
The Alpine Window
The Dovista Danish window group will buy 2.4 billion kroner of Swiss Arbonia's windows and door division. The division acquired in 2020 had a turnover of 2.5 billion kroner and 2,5000 employees – a big increase on the 4,000 employed by Vista's sister company. Dovista expects the competition authorities to approve the purchase in order to confirm it.