Alma Real Estate Analysis Reveals Growing Concentration of Renovation Risk Across Finnish Housing Companies

Alma Real Estate Analysis Reveals Growing Concentration of Renovation Risk Across Finnish Housing Companies

(IN BRIEF) A new analysis by Alma Real Estate reveals that renovation debt in Finland is increasingly concentrated in specific housing companies, with one in three lacking sufficient funds for upcoming repairs. By consolidating data from tens of thousands of housing companies, the study provides a clearer and more comparable view of renovation risks across the market. The findings show that nearly half of housing companies still face major renovation needs, particularly in older buildings that have not undergone key upgrades such as pipe replacements. This increased transparency is expected to influence property pricing, financing decisions, and transaction processes, as buyers, sellers, and banks gain better insight into future costs. With Finland’s total renovation debt estimated at up to €50 billion and many buildings requiring significant refurbishment, the analysis highlights the growing importance of data-driven decision-making in the real estate sector.

(PRESS RELEASE) HELSINKI, 6-May-2026 — /EuropaWire/ — Alma Media, through its real estate division Alma Real Estate, has published a new analysis highlighting a growing imbalance in renovation preparedness among Finnish housing companies. The findings indicate that renovation-related financial risks are increasingly concentrated in specific properties, raising concerns about future impacts on property values, financing conditions, and transaction processes.

According to the analysis, approximately one in three housing companies lacks sufficient financial reserves to cover upcoming renovation needs. The dataset, which integrates repair histories, structural information, and forward-looking renovation forecasts from tens of thousands of housing companies, provides a unified overview of risks that were previously fragmented across multiple sources. This consolidated perspective enables, for the first time, direct comparison of renovation readiness across the market.

Laura Leskinen, Business Director of Alma Real Estate Insights, emphasized that the new data reduces long-standing information gaps within the housing market. By making renovation risks more transparent and accessible, the analysis levels the playing field for buyers, sellers, and financial institutions, allowing decisions to be based on consistent and comparable information.

The dataset currently covers around 76,000 housing companies and 150,000 residential buildings. It reveals that renovation debt is unevenly distributed, with certain properties facing significantly higher risks than others. Nearly half of the analysed housing companies still have at least one major renovation outstanding, most commonly involving pipelines, elevators, or façades. Buildings constructed between the 1960s and 1980s that have yet to undergo pipe renovations are identified as particularly vulnerable.

Greater transparency around renovation risks is expected to influence the real estate market in several ways. Real estate agents can incorporate the data into property valuations, prospective buyers can better anticipate future costs, and financial institutions can refine their collateral assessments. As renovation liabilities become more visible, they are likely to play a more direct role in negotiations, pricing strategies, and lending decisions.

Finland’s overall renovation debt for residential buildings is estimated at between €30 billion and €50 billion. According to the ROTI 2025 report by the Finnish Association of Civil Engineers (RIL), more than 40 percent of buildings require significant refurbishment. At the same time, rising interest rates have reduced households’ capacity to finance such repairs. The new analysis provides more detailed insight into how this debt is distributed, offering a clearer understanding of where risks are concentrated.

Alma Real Estate operates as a comprehensive property services ecosystem in Finland, combining platforms such as Etuovi.com and Vuokraovi.com, professional tools like OviPro, AI-driven analytics solutions, and digital transaction infrastructure into a unified offering. Its parent company, Alma Media, operates across multiple European markets, providing digital media, marketplace services, and data-driven solutions.

Alma Real Estate is Finland’s leading real estate service ecosystem. It combines residential property marketplaces (Etuovi.com, Vuokraovi.com), a professional platform for estate agents (OviPro), AI-powered real estate data tools (Asuntopuntari, Aluepuntari, Climatrix), and digital property transaction infrastructure (DIAS) into a single ecosystem.

Alma Media in brief

Alma Media is an international company of digital media, marketplaces and services with a strong capacity for renewal. We inspire human curiosity and choice by creating services that combine technology and content with a local heart. In Finland, our best-known brands include Kauppalehti, Talouselämä, Iltalehti, Jobly, Etuovi.com, Nettiauto and Nettimoto. Our recruitment services include prace.cz and jobs.cz in Czechia, Profesia.sk in Slovakia and mojposao.net in Croatia.

In Finland, our business operations include leading housing and automotive marketplaces, financial and professional media, national consumer media and content and data services for businesses and professionals. Alma Media’s international business in Eastern Central Europe, Sweden and the Baltic countries consists of recruitment services and an online marketplace for commercial properties.

Alma Media operates in 10 countries in Europe and employs approximately 1,650 professionals. Alma Media’s revenue from continuing operations was EUR 327 million in 2025 of which the share of digital business was 86%. Alma Media’s share is listed on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. Read more at www.almamedia.fi/en/

Media Contact:

Teemu Salmi
Director of Investor Relations
Tel. 010 665 6495
teemu.salmi(at)almamedia.fi

SOURCE: Alma Media