The decline in used apartment prices slowed in September, with prices up 1% from August, Statistics Finland said on Wednesday, according to Keskisuomalainen and Yle.
Compared with a year earlier, prices in large cities fell 1.8%, the smallest drop this year. Nationwide prices were down 2.2%. Prices fell in every large city except Oulu, where they rose 2% from last September.
It was the first time this year that prices rose by at least 1% from the previous month, both nationwide and in large cities.
Housing trade has not picked up. Real estate agents sold 12.8% fewer used apartment-block and row-house homes in September than a year earlier. In the third quarter, sales were just over a tenth lower than in the same period last year.
Nationwide, apartment-block prices fell 3% and row-house prices 0.3% from a year earlier.
Pellervon taloustutkimuskeskus noted that prices in Tampere and Helsinki have risen for several months and are now higher than at the start of the year, suggesting the housing market may be improving in large cities. Senior economist Veera Holappa said: "September was a good month for both prices and sales volumes. Consumer confidence is still weak, so it is uncertain whether the positive development will continue. One good month does not yet mean a permanent change of direction in the housing market, but it can offer a cautious promise of better."