Europe's news in English

COPY LINK

REAL ESTATE

‘Record number’ of homes for sale in Sweden

The number of houses and apartments for sale in Sweden is nearing record highs, according to a Swedish real estate listing service.

Published: 29 December 2011 08:41 CET

'Record number' of homes for sale in Sweden

Ever since June, the number of real estate listings in Sweden has been above normal, figures from online listing service Bovision.

The number of detached homes for sale has been 26 percent higher than during 2010, while the number of tenant-owner apartments (bostadsrätter) on the market has been 20 percent higher compared to last year.

As 2011 comes to a close, there are still an extraordinarily high number of homes for sale.

“The record high inventory doesn’t seem to be letting up,” Bovision CEO Ulf Magnusson said in a statement.

“The record inventory combined with reports of lower prices has us seeing more of a buyers market for homes compared to what we’re used to.”

While inventories of detached homes and apartments are somewhat lower in December compared to November, in line with regular trends, there are 55 percent more houses and 44 percent more apartments for sale today compared to figures from December 2010, according to Bovision’s figures.

And the large number of listings isn’t due to the fact that homes are sitting unsold for longer periods of time.

In reality, it’s taking less time on average for homeowners to sell their properties. In December 2010, it took an average of 131 days to sell a detached house, compared to only 111 days this year, while flats are selling in 84 days, compared with 88 days in 2010.

Currently, there are 16,198 houses and 12,026 apartments for sale in Sweden.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.

Become a Member to leave a comment.

Zurich has one of the world’s 'riskiest' housing markets

Zurich is at risk of a housing bubble, study says. Photo by AFP

This is the first year that Zurich joined the ranks of cities at risk of a housing bubble since UBS bank started its annual analysis in 2014.

The Global Real Estate Bubble Index, which surveyed 25 major cities around the world, puts the housing market into long-term perspective and is designed to track the risk of property price bubbles in those locations.

Housing bubbles are periods characterized by high demand, low supply, and inflated prices.

According to the analysis, “Zurich recorded the strongest price growth rate of all Swiss economic regions in the last decade. Its housing market has been characterized by a relatively fast supply expansion and benefited from increasing demand.

“The owner-occupied market has dried up, while the coronavirus crisis has hardly left any traces on it. In fact, housing located near Zurich's city center benefited from increasing demand.

“The high willingness to pay reflects both expectations that prices will further increase and sustained investment demand. In line with these developments, the city now joins the bubble risk ranks.

READ MORE: Buying property versus renting in Switzerland: What is actually cheaper?

Housing in Switzerland’s second-largest city, Geneva, is also notoriously expensive, but Zurich ranks higher in terms of real estate prices, the Index shows.

“Geneva’s housing market has recovered from losses incurred during the period between 2013 and 2016. Adding to this, low mortgage rates keep home-ownership appealing in light of inflated market rents and the city benefits from its international standing, while continuing to attract foreign nationals despite affordability constraints”, UBS said.

While Zurich figures in the seventh place in the Index, it is topped by even ‘riskier’ European cities like Munich, Frankfurt, Paris, and Amsterdam.

“The Eurozone stands out as the region with the most overheated housing markets”, the study found.

London, Stockholm and Moscow are classified as ‘overvalued’ but not at risk of a bubble, while Madrid is ‘fair-valued’.

Url copied to clipboard!