House Prices in Iceland

Measures the change in house prices in Iceland through an index of transacted dwellings. Published by the Housing and Construction Authority (HMS) alongside Statistics Iceland, it is a key gauge of Iceland's housing market and of household wealth.

It is computed as an index against a base year from actual prices in registered sale deeds, controlling for dwelling characteristics to isolate the price change. It is released monthly, with year-on-year and month-on-month changes, for the capital area and the whole country.

House prices affect construction and its supplier industries, household wealth and spending and financial stability through mortgage lending. In Iceland, a small economy with elevated inflation, they are a variable watched by the Central Bank (Seðlabanki).

The index is published with a lag and revised. The low number of transactions in such a small market makes it very volatile month to month, and average prices can be skewed by the mix of dwellings sold.