New figures from Swedish Real Estate Statistics show a 1.2 percent price increase in February for tenant-owned apartments. The increase is also the largest on a monthly basis since November last year, TT's review shows.
The price trend in central Stockholm is at the same time even more remarkable: up 2.3 percent and with an average price per square meter of 118,000 SEK.
In central Stockholm, we are largely back to the previous peak levels. Bidding is more common and processes are somewhat faster. Although it's obviously faster to sell attractive properties, things have become more normalized, says Marcus Svanberg, CEO of Länsförsäkringar's real estate agency.
Act as a driving force
He also points out that Stockholm's housing market traditionally acts as a driving force for developments in the rest of Sweden. The fact that prices are now rising so significantly is believed to have several underlying reasons, such as a more stable interest rate situation but also more money in households' wallets.
"We have received tax cuts, there will be a VAT cut," he says, referring to the temporary reduction in food VAT, starting on April 1.
Another contributing factor is the changed mortgage rules that come into effect on the same date, which remove the stricter amortization requirement while the mortgage ceiling is raised from 85 to 90 percent, reducing the upfront cash needed. From a brokerage perspective, we have seen housing speculators taking advantage of the change by requesting to take possession after April 1.
Increased demand
The question asked of us and the bank is: "I want to borrow 90 percent, can I do that? Yes, you can if the calculation is correct, but then you have to wait until after April 1 to take possession so that the banks have time to update their loan documents according to the new regulations."
Marcus Svanberg also points out that there is a category that expects increased demand and therefore wants to buy now.
Now I don't think the effect will be that prices will skyrocket on April 1, but there are those who want to take the opportunity to buy now before prices rise further and therefore want to make a deal as soon as possible.
