The last two weekends in August are often referred to as the viewing weekends, as they are the weekends during the autumn that usually have the highest pressure after the summer's lull. Ulrica Hedman, CEO of Fastighetsbyrån, says that they have more booked viewings this year compared to last year.
But at the same time, it is still slow on the housing market.
There is still a record large supply and many sales that take time and a large part that do not get sold.
She highlights the big viewing weekends as an important indicator to see if the housing market can get going in the autumn. Above all, she wants to see how it goes for tenant-owned apartments in the Stockholm area, which has been a particularly slow market lately.
It is an indicator to see if the summer's trend continues or if there is some change. We are perhaps a little more positive that it can start making more deals and that it can become slightly rising prices, says Ulrica Hedman.
Temporarily wakes up
SBAB's chief economist Robert Boije does not think that the housing market will take off this year, more than with a temporary upturn in the near future.
It usually wakes up a bit in August, but we think it will be a temporary upturn, says Robert Boije and adds:
The underlying market, we do not think will wake up to life.
That the housing market has not woken up in pace with the lowering of the interest rate, Robert Boije says, is because the housing market is more affected by the long-term interest rates that have not fallen as much as the variable ones. The market is also weighed down by uncertainty in the world and that Swedish households' incomes have been eroded by the previously high inflation.
Towards the end of the year, he thinks that housing prices will be almost unchanged for the full year and that the market will wake up to life first next year.
Then the real incomes have increased for two years and hopefully the uncertainty in the world has decreased a bit. We believe that housing prices will start to rise a bit more then.
Sell first
Both give future home buyers the advice to sell their current home before they buy a new one.
It takes a little longer, so you have to be patient with it, says Ulrica Hedman.
As long as you buy and sell on the same market, and maybe above all sell first and buy later, then you are still fairly safe, says Robert Boije.
To sellers: – Sell first, buy later. – Prepare your sale in good time and be prepared that it may take longer than usual. – Evaluate several brokers. If the market is unstable, it is good to have a stable broker that you trust. Choose someone who sells a lot in your area.
To buyers: – Speculators should make an extra careful analysis of associations' economy and villas' operating costs. – Do not dismiss a home if the starting price is above your budget. In today's market, there may be room for negotiation. – Dare to act. If you sell and buy on the same market, the risks decrease.
Source: Fastighetsbyrån's broker panel
