The economy will grow briskly for years and the red hot property market – the biggest risk in an otherwise model economy – will cool gradually, the agency said in a quarterly projection.

Three months ago the agency projected economic growth of 2.2 percent in 2013.

Investments in oil and gas, which make up a fifth of the economy, will rise to 207.8 billion crowns ($37 billion) next year from 180.6 billion in 2012 as energy firms develop a string of recent discoveries and drive their existing assets hard to take advantage of high oil prices.

“Oil investment data indicate a big rise for next year and that will provide an important impetus for overall growth,” Steinar Juel, chief economist at Nordea said. “The forecasts are quite strong, maybe even a bit too strong.”

Indeed, the oil sector and the service companies that keep it going, are running near capacity, raising the risk of slippage, others noted.

“There are (increasing) capacity constraints especially within drilling, which is crucial for exploration activities, and for production wells coming on-stream timely during a field development and start-up,” SEB said in a note.

“As such, planned investments for 2013 might be pushed into 2014 which will keep investments levels at historic high levels,” it added.

The boom has lifted nominal per capita GDP above $100,000 for the first time this year and kept unemployment at about 3 percent even as the euro zone is struggling with a recession.

HOUSING COOLDOWN

Excluding the oil and gas sector, Statistics Norway cut its 2013 growth forecast to 2.9 percent from 3.1 percent as other exporters feel the chill from Europe’s weakness.

The agency also predicted slowing housing price growth, a welcome sign for the central bank, as construction sector picks up its pace to meet rising demand from rapid immigration.

“The growth in property prices will come down to just over 1 percent as we head towards 2020,” SSB researcher Torbjoern Eika told a news conference. “This is not a bubble … it’s a soft landing.”

“It would take a powerful shock for property prices to fall significantly,” Eika added.

For the next two years though, the agency sees housing prices rising by more than 6 percent a year, faster than incomes, pushing already high household debt levels even higher.

Norwegian households are among the most indebted in Europe with a debt to income ratio of 200 percent. Several major agencies, like the IMF and the OECD, have warned that Norway may be experiencing a housing bubble.

The central bank would be keen to raise rates to push borrowing costs higher and cool the real estate market, but any increase risks firming an already strong crown currency and hurting exporters.

But even as households pile on debt, the savings rate is seen rising to around 9 percent in both 2013 and 2014, indicating that households are building a financial buffer. ($1 = 5.6240 Norwegian crowns)

The top three states – Wyoming, South Dakota, and Nevada – have no corporate or income taxes. That environment is especially helpful for small business owners who pay taxes using the income tax rate.

“The lesson is simple: a state that raises sufficient revenue without one of the major taxes will, all things being equal, have an advantage over those states that levy every tax in the state tax collector’s arsenal,” says Scott Drenkard, an economist at the Tax Foundation, a group that advocates for tax reform.

Wyoming also ranked high in the National Chamber Foundation’s Enterprising States report.

“Wyoming is a top-10 state in four business-climate metrics, including first in overall state business-tax climate and first in tax environment for mature firms. The state also ranks ninth in tax environment for new firms, making it one of the most advantageous overall for business.”

The states in the bottom 10 of the Tax Foundation index suffer from the same afflictions: complex, non-neutral taxes with comparatively high rates. New York ranks the worst—despite its moderate corporate tax rate of 7.1%—because it’s saddled with the worst individual income tax, the sixth-worst unemployment insurance taxes, and the sixth-worst property taxes.

Interesting side note: Wyoming also has one of the country’s lowest beer tax (2 cents per gallon), followed by Missouri (6 cents), and Wisconsin (6 cents). Coincidence? We’re not sure, but let’s raise a cold one to Wyoming.

Norway’s economy will slow next year as exporters struggle to remain competitive amid falling demand from the debt-ridden euro area and currency gains, the country’s largest business group said.

Growth in Norway’s mainland economy, which excludes oil and gas revenue, will slow to 2.5 percent next year from 3.25 percent this year, the Oslo-based Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, known locally as NHO, said in a report today. Total exports will remain unchanged in 2013 after growing 2 percent this year, NHO estimates.

Norwegian exporters, which sell more than 60 percent of their goods to the European Union, are fighting to stay competitive as demand in the euro area sags and the krone hovers close to a nine-year high, making exports more expensive. A boom in the country’s petroleum industry has boosted wages, increasing production costs.

Dag Aarnes, a director at the NHO, said there’s concern that an estimated record spending on the petroleum area is having “crowding out effects” on Norway’s traditional industry. Investments by non-petroleum related businesses have almost fallen by 50 percent to 5 billion kroner ($880 million) from more than 10 billion kroner in 2008, he said at a press conference today.

“In the last three recoveries, business investments have been characterized by annual growth rates of 10 to 20 percent,”NHO wrote in its report. “This isn’t happening this time.”

The krone has appreciated 5.2 percent against the euro so far this year and 5.5 percent against the dollar.

Norges Bank last month kept the main interest rate unchanged at 1.5 percent for a fourth meeting, following two cuts since December as it tries to limit krone gains. The bank has signaled it will keep its benchmark rate on hold at least until March, citing low inflation and falling interest rate expectations abroad.