Landsbanki has repossessed the property of Icelandic businessman Hannes Smarason, including his home at Fjolnisvegur 11 in Reykjavik, RUV reports. Read the full story

Five times fewer property purchase contracts were recorded in Reykjavik in the first seven months of the year, compared to the same time in 2007, according to information from the Icelandic Property Registry. Purchase contracts have gone down by roughly half compared with January-July last year. Read the full story

Icelandic millionaires Jon Asgeir Johannesson and Ingibjorg Palmadottir have put their luxury Manhattan apartment on the market for USD 25 million (ISK 2.9 billion), according to the New York Times. Read the full story

Southern Icelandic residential land is now being marketed as a great investment opportunity in Iceland for families, individuals and business investors to construct houses, or build small farms for keeping domestic animals, small-scale land cultivation or other related activities. Read the full story

Around 80 percent of estate agents in Iceland have lost their jobs so far this year. “The situation is very serious,” Gretar Jonsson, head of the Association of Estate Agents told MBL.is. “Most estate agents’ owners are just hoping against hope that the market will pick up again over the coming months.” Read the full story

Norway’s Crown Prince and Princess recently purchased a modest hytte on a private island off the southern coast of the country and have announced that they will not be renovating or expanding the house.

The couple paid NOK 9 million (USD 1.8 million) for the 1960’s-era holiday home. The building is located on Flatholmen, close to Risor. The home is just 60 square meters, in the style Norwegians refer to as a hytte.

After news of the purchase broke, most members of the public believed the couple would extensively renovate the home, perhaps even tear it down for a more spacious home. Although regulations on developments on the coast are quite restrictive, local authorities pledged to remain cooperative with any plans the royal couple might have proposed.

Instead, palace officials told local newspaper Aftenposten that the royals had “no plans” to rebuild or restore the hytte. The couple and their three children may live a relatively normal existence far away from luxurious royal trappings.

There has been no comment to date from the police who are responsible for the royal family’s security. The family of five will be living in a three bedroom space with no room for the police to stay with them. Instead, Aftenposten predicted police may sleep on moored boats near the hytte.

Dream Homes WorldWide recently announced it would be expanding its business into Scandinavia in 2008. The international off-plan real estate services are now offered through domain extensions in Denmark and Norway. In addition, the company recently opened an office in Copenhagen.

The Managing Director of Dream Homes WorldWide Scandinavia is Swedish-born Johan Lindgren. He said: “Scandinavians are making a switch from lifestyle purchases to becoming very investment focused when it comes to buying property overseas and for this reason they are finding markets such as Dubai particularly interesting over-and-above more holiday-orientated countries such as Turkey and Spain.”

According to Lindgren, the vast majority of the leads handled by the office in Copenhagen are for properties in Dubai. Lindgren affirmed that Dubai was one of the safest places in the world to invest.

Dream Homes has several services which it has specifically developed which set it apart from its competition. The company’s Securinvest policy protects customers by requiring all relevant paperwork, including documentation, licenses and bank guarantees to be in place and verified before they have access to the project.

“Dream Homes WorldWide Scandinavia covers a spectrum from Germany to Turkey, Dubai and Brazil, and of course brings several years of successful trading to the table. It will not be long before our business becomes a byword for off-plan real estate for the Scandinavian people,” said Lindgren.

Further satellite offices are planned in Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki.