Housing developers see brighter outlook for property market and construction, oil and gas expected to bring in 336 billion kroner in taxes in 2025, and other news from Norway on Tuesday.
Signs of optimism among Norway’s housing developers
Norway’s residential real estate market is becoming increasingly optimistic following a recent interest rate cut by Norges Bank, Norway’s central bank.
Housing developer Selvaag Bolig, a leading Oslo‑based company specialising in the development and sale of residential housing, has reported a marked uptick in sales activity in the second quarter of 2025.
According to figures they shared with the business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv (DN), the company sold 117 homes worth 771 kroner million in Q2 2025.
While this is down from the 235 homes sold for 1.57 billion kroner in the same quarter last year, CEO Sverre Molvik sees encouraging signs of recovery.
“We are very pleased with sales exceeding 2 billion kroner in the first half of the year. Despite a slightly more cautious market in Q2, sales have been steady, and interest in new sales launches has been strong. We’re now seeing optimism and an increased sales pace following the rate cut,” Molvik said.
“The housing market appears to have bottomed out. With interest rate cuts and real wage growth improving purchasing power, we expect further increases in sales and new construction projects going forward,” he added.
Norway set to collect over 300 billion kroner in petroleum tax for 2025
The Norwegian Tax Administration expects to collect approximately 336 billion kroner in petroleum tax in 2025, marking a drop of 45 billion kroner from the previous year, according to a press release from the authority.
The estimate is based on forecasts submitted by oil and gas companies operating on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Petroleum tax is levied on both extraction and pipeline operations and represents a significant source of government revenue.
While still substantial, the expected 2025 revenue is well below the record 884 billion kroner collected in 2022.
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New AI legislation proposed
On Monday, the Norwegian Ministry of Digitalisation and Public Administration sent a draft AI Act out for public consultation, marking a significant step in Norway’s efforts to regulate the use of artificial intelligence.
The proposed legislation aims to ensure that AI is developed, applied, and used safely, ethically, and responsibly in both public and private sectors.
“Norway wants to become the world’s most digitalised country by 2030, and we intend to be at the forefront of ethical and safe use of AI,” Minister of Digitalisation and Public Administration Karianne Tung said in a press release.
“That’s why we are introducing our own national law to regulate artificial intelligence,” Tung said.
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Equinor to invest 13 billion kroner in Johan Sverdrup oil field
Equinor and its partners have announced a 13 billion kroner investment in the Johan Sverdrup oil field – one of the largest and most productive on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Currently producing around 755,000 barrels of oil per day, the field accounts for roughly one-third of Norway’s total offshore oil output, the newspaper e24 reported.
At today’s oil prices, that equates to approximately 500 million kroner in daily revenue.
Last year, Johan Sverdrup set a production record with 260 million barrels of oil, which is the highest annual production ever from a Norwegian field.
