NORWAY/DENMARK – The growth of the Norwegian and Danish property markets in 2002 was lower than in 2001, according to property data firm IPD.

Norway saw a return across all property of 6.8%, down from 11.1% in 2001 and 12.7% in 2000. Denmark posted a 9.3% return, down from 2001’s 11.7% and 2000’s 10%.

“Last year saw a significant weakening in the performance of the Norwegian property market,” IPD said. “The decline in all property performance was mainly due to a fall in rental values in the Oslo office market.”. Last year Norwegian bonds returned 7.9%, while equities returned –31.1%.

Norwegian retail property returned 12.0%, office 4.9% and residential 14.6%.

“Property was the top performing asset in Denmark during 2002,” IPD added. Equities fell 25.7% while property share returns were –37.6%.

Danish residential property returned 13.4%, while retail returned 10.2%. Office and other commercial were at 7.7% and 10.4% respectively.