Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
The House Price Index (HPI) is a quarterly indicator that measures the changes in the dwellings transaction prices that households acquire on the market, independently of the transfer purpose. Prices include land value.
The data on the HPI is provided in the form of an overall index number comprising two sub-indexes: Purchases of newly built dwellings and Purchases of existing dwellings.
The data is based on harmonised definitions and concepts included in the Owner-Occupied Housing (OOH) Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/1470 and described in the OOH Technical Manual.
The HPI covers all transactions of dwellings made by households regardless of its final use. This index thus covers not only the transactions that are new to the household sector but also all that are traded between households, including cooperative housing. While the index for Purchases of newly built dwellings covers the former situation, the index for Purchases of existing dwellings covers the latter case. The transfer form includes ordinary free sales, family sales, forced sales and other sales.
Index figures for the purchase of new and existing dwellings are compiled on the basis of full transaction prices, which are collected through the use of a fiscal administrative data source (prices recorded at the time of the transfer of the ownership). Transaction prices include the value of land. The HPI is a chain-linked Laspeyres-type price index. HPI data are presented in the form of index numbers (current reference year: 2015). The HPI is weighted by the value of dwelling transactions (new and existing) sector (gross concept applied, weights data include the value of land).
ESA 2010 is the main source for the compilation of weights, which is complemented by administrative data sources concerning dwelling transactions.
3.5. Statistical unit
The basic statistical unit of the HPI is private households.
3.6. Statistical population
The target population is the set of all transactions of dwellings purchased by households.
3.7. Reference area
Data are available for the country as a whole. Data by dwellings categories (Family Houses, Flats, Vacation Housing) are also available upon request.
National breakdown by the degree of urbanization (degurba) is available in the table EJENEU in Statistics Denmark's statbank.
3.8. Coverage - Time
Data are available since 2005 for all index series. However, national breakdown of HPI only goes back to 2015.
3.9. Base period
The HPI is a chain-linked Laspeyres-type price index that use the year 2015 as reference year.
2015=100
Index figures with reference year 2015 are available. Weights are given as parts in 1000 and in national currency.
The compiled quarterly indexes represent the whole calendar quarter.
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
HPI documentation is not yet available but a documentation covering Statistics Denmark 'sales of real property' statistic is available. The two statistics share the same data and methods regarding transaction prices for dwellings.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
Not applicable.
11.1. Quality assurance
All data are checked for completeness and consistency with statistical concepts and definitions.
11.2. Quality management - assessment
The quality of the HPI index is routinely reviewed using a framework that is based on the OOH technical manual and the European Statistical System (ESS) definition of quality.
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The HPI responds to the needs of all users, in particular Eurostat and the European Central Bank, interested in knowing the behaviour of prices in the house price market.
The HPI is perceived to be accurate and to reflect the overall behaviour of the housing market.
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable.
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not relevant.
14.1. Timeliness
Data are sent according to the Regulation (EU) 2016/792: 85 days after the end of the reference period (indices) and 165 days after the end of the reference year (weights).
14.2. Punctuality
The statistics are compiled by Statistics Denmark as soon as land registration data become available from the Ministry of Taxation.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
Geographical division of the indices by the degree of urbanization (degurba) is calculated and aggregated to the total using the Laspeyres formula.
15.2. Comparability - over time
Data are comparable over time.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The OOHPI may partly overlap the scope of the HPI. However, both indexes cover a different set of transactions and any comparison of the two indices should be done with this in mind.
15.4. Coherence - internal
All figures are checked for internal consistency.
The HPI and OOHPI are produced at the same time in the same system to ensure consistency between the two.
There are no associated burden for respondents as data is sourced from administrative registers.
17.1. Data revision - policy
HPI data are revised a quater back.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The preliminary figures are calculated on the basis of an incomplete data material, since not all trades were registered on the time of calculation. Therefore the data will be revised one time.
18.1. Source data
See below.
18.1.1. Prices
Index numbers are compiled using administrative sources obtained from the tax authorities and the land registry. Data for cooperative housing is collected by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and Senior Citizens.
18.1.2. Weights
National Accounts data, together with the electronic land registration system, provide the basis for compiling the weights. National accounts data is used for newly built dwellings. For each year, the weights are derived from the previous year’s National Accounts figures.
18.1.3. Source data - House Sales indicators
The main data sources for the house sales indicators are the land registry and data from tax authorities. Data for cooperative housing is collected by the Ministry of Social Affairs, Housing and Senior Citizens.
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Data are collected weekly but published quarterly.
18.3. Data collection
Administrative data are received as weekly data sets transferred automatically to Statistics Denmark (system to system).
18.4. Data validation
Data are checked for internal consistency.
Various procedures ensure that errors are minimised in the data. The following validation checks are made on each record in the source data:
Extreme values are identified and eliminated if thought necessary.
Data cleaning is done to remove cases of obviously erroneous data.
18.5. Data compilation
See below.
18.5.1. Calculation and Aggregation
See below.
18.5.1.1. Index formulae
HPI is a Laspeyres-type price index.
18.5.1.2. Aggregation method
Newly built dwellings, existing dwellings and cooperative housing are weighted sub-indices.
The fourth quarter of the preceding year is used as the price reference period.
18.5.1.3. Derivation of sub-index and elementary aggregate weights
Sub-index and elementary aggregate weights are based on data on household expenditure on transacted dwellings.
The weight reference period is 2024.
The HPI weights are updated on an annual basis.
18.5.1.4. Price updating
Weights are available t-1 year for transactions and t-2 years for national accounts data, which is projected forward to t-1 using relevant indices. Currently we are not price updating to the fourth quater of t-1.
18.5.1.5. Chaining and linking method
The calculated indices are linked with the fourth quarter of the preceding year which is then chained with respect to the index reference period.
18.5.1.6. Compilation of sub-indices
The HPI indices for dwellings at the lowest level have been calculated using the value-weighted (arithmetic) SPAR method. The lower index for cooperative housing usen RTD hedonic regression.
18.5.1.6.1. Hedonic method
Indices for cooperative housing are calculated using hedonic regression and the rolling time dummy method.
Length of the time window: 4 quarters Dependent variable: log of price. Explanatory variables: dwelling area (squaremeters according to BBR), age of the building(years), age of the cooperative association (years), annual housing charge (DKK), valuation methos applied, decision or major maintenance works undertaken, extent of member liability beyond initial contribution, whether the maximum share value equals the overall maximum permissible price, constructed variable indicating whether the association consists exclusively of cooperative dwellings, region, proportion of association's total dwelling area that is rented out, whether the association receives commercial rental income, whether the association receives residential rental income, existence of vacant commercial units, ratio of the dwelling area of cooperative housing units to total property area, interest rate swap agreement
18.5.1.6.2. SPAR method
The valuation data used is from the tax authorities and prices are from land registry which is used for existing dwellings.
For newly built dwellings, the construction cost indices are used to as a proxy which follows the matching-model method.
The period of the valuation data used is from t-1.
The elementary index formula used is the arithmetic average in accordance with the arithmetic SPAR method. Only existing dwelling uses SPAR method.
18.5.1.6.3. Stratification
Existing dwellings are stratified in three geographical indices according to the DEGURBA.
18.5.2. Other processing issues
See below.
18.5.2.1. Timing for pricing
The timing of the price is the date of the transfer of ownership.
18.5.2.2. Treatment of VAT
VAT is included in the price of newly built dwellings.
18.5.2.3. Treatment of other taxes
Taxes other than VAT are not included in the price of dwellings because there are no other taxes, such as transaction tax, on dwellings.
18.5.2.4. Treatment of government subsidies
The HPI includes only transactions at market prices. As transactions which include government subsidies are normally below market prices, they are excluded from the HPI.
18.5.2.5. Treatment of land
The price of land is included in both prices and weights.
18.5.2.6. Housing cooperatives
Housing cooperatives are covered in the HPI.
18.5.2.7. Treatment of non-market transactions
Not applicable.
18.5.2.8. Treatment of multi-object transactions
Multi-object transactions are not included.
18.5.2.9. Treatment of fractional transactions
Fractional transactions are removed.
18.5.2.10. Outliers detection
Outliers are detected by the ratio of the price and appraisal in accordance with the SPAR method. The thresholds used are fixed.
Outliers for corporate housing are detected by an R program that identifies obvious reporting errors (which are corrected), ensures that essential variables fall within predefined limits, removes duplicates, performs consistency checks, and calculates missing allocation keys.
18.5.2.11. Treatment of incomplete data source coverage
The whole population is used.
18.6. Adjustment
No adjustments other than quality adjustment are applied to the HPI data.
None.
The House Price Index (HPI) is a quarterly indicator that measures the changes in the dwellings transaction prices that households acquire on the market, independently of the transfer purpose. Prices include land value.
The data on the HPI is provided in the form of an overall index number comprising two sub-indexes: Purchases of newly built dwellings and Purchases of existing dwellings.
The data is based on harmonised definitions and concepts included in the Owner-Occupied Housing (OOH) Commission Regulation (EU) No 2023/1470 and described in the OOH Technical Manual.
6 November 2025
The HPI covers all transactions of dwellings made by households regardless of its final use. This index thus covers not only the transactions that are new to the household sector but also all that are traded between households, including cooperative housing. While the index for Purchases of newly built dwellings covers the former situation, the index for Purchases of existing dwellings covers the latter case. The transfer form includes ordinary free sales, family sales, forced sales and other sales.
Index figures for the purchase of new and existing dwellings are compiled on the basis of full transaction prices, which are collected through the use of a fiscal administrative data source (prices recorded at the time of the transfer of the ownership). Transaction prices include the value of land. The HPI is a chain-linked Laspeyres-type price index. HPI data are presented in the form of index numbers (current reference year: 2015). The HPI is weighted by the value of dwelling transactions (new and existing) sector (gross concept applied, weights data include the value of land).
ESA 2010 is the main source for the compilation of weights, which is complemented by administrative data sources concerning dwelling transactions.
The basic statistical unit of the HPI is private households.
The target population is the set of all transactions of dwellings purchased by households.
Data are available for the country as a whole. Data by dwellings categories (Family Houses, Flats, Vacation Housing) are also available upon request.
National breakdown by the degree of urbanization (degurba) is available in the table EJENEU in Statistics Denmark's statbank.
The compiled quarterly indexes represent the whole calendar quarter.
The HPI is perceived to be accurate and to reflect the overall behaviour of the housing market.
Index figures with reference year 2015 are available. Weights are given as parts in 1000 and in national currency.
See below.
See below.
Quarterly for the indices and annually for the index weights.
Data are sent according to the Regulation (EU) 2016/792: 85 days after the end of the reference period (indices) and 165 days after the end of the reference year (weights).
Geographical division of the indices by the degree of urbanization (degurba) is calculated and aggregated to the total using the Laspeyres formula.
