During December, apartment prices decreased by 1.1 percent and villa prices by 0.8 percent in the country, according to fresh figures from Swedish Real Estate Statistics.
However, during the entire 2024, apartment prices increased by 5.9 percent and villa prices by 5 percent.
There have been some small fluctuations during the year. A typical normal development, says Hans Flink, sales and business development manager at Swedish Real Estate Statistics.
The housing market feels "fairly stable" according to Flink.
Sellers and buyers have found each other at a level that is acceptable to both parties.
Back to normal
2019 is seen as a normal year for the housing market. During the pandemic years, housing prices rose and an unusually large number of homes were sold. This was followed by two years of poor sales and price drops.
We are back to some form of normal, says Flink.
Sales took off during 2024. Compared to 2023, 14 percent more apartments and 16 percent more villas were sold. The number of villas sold reached a record level during the second half of 2024 – even higher than during the pandemic years 2020-2021.
"The price picture was stable with small increases and sellers' and buyers' expectations increasingly in balance during the year. The result was that more and more people acted on a pent-up need to move and sales volumes increased", says Oskar Öholm, CEO of the Real Estate Association in a comment.
Apartments take off
The Swedish Central Bank has opened up for further lowering of the interest rate, and some analysts believe in a lowering before the summer.
This would create even more energy in the housing market, says Flink.
Last fall, an investigation was submitted to the government, which among other things proposes the abolition of the tightened amortization requirement and a raised mortgage ceiling. If the government goes ahead with some or all of the proposals, it would also have an effect, according to Flink.
The villa market is expected to remain at the same level as 2024, but without record-breaking numbers. For apartments, prices have indeed gone up, but the number of sales is lagging behind.
It is likely that just that market will take more off during 2025, says Flink.
