Huge losses for parents buying flats for children at university

On average, buyers are out of pocket between 6,000 and 10,000 kroner in the capital region, and about half that in the other big student cities

For many years, purchasing a second property in the capital region to house your children while they attended university was considered a sound investment. 

But these purchases have spectacularly backfired, according to a new Realkredit Danmark analysis that estimates the average buyer is currently losing between 6,000 and 10,000 kroner a month. 

Parental purchases are accordingly flatlining – a status confirmed by estate agents Realmæglerne and Bomae to Børsen.

“In just a few years, there has been a significant change in the operating economics of a parental purchase,” confirmed Realkredit Danmark chief economist Christian Hilligsøe Heinig to the financial newspaper.

Few purchases can be called investments today
Realkredit Danmark presented a number of scenarios, and they all end badly for parents.

In scenario 1, parents buy a 50 sqm apartment in Copenhagen and rent it out for 5,800 kroner a month: a monthly loss of 6,300 a month. In scenario 2, parents buy an 80 sqm flat and rent it out for 9,300 a month: a monthly loss of 10,400.

In Aalborg and Odense, the losses were not as severe, but still totalled 2,500 to 4,000 kroner.

“We have gone from a situation where there has been an ongoing surplus to now seeing a historically large operating loss,” concluded Heinig.

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