House prices in Sweden begin upward climb

”It is too early to talk of a break in the trend, but we are receiving signals that the activity on the property market is increasing,” said Claudia Wörmann, head analyst at the Association of Swedish Real Estate Agents (Mäklarsamfundet) to news agency TT.

House prices in Sweden fell by four percent over the last year and apartment prices by three percent, according to the latest figures by real estate statistics service Mäklarstatistik.

Prices plummeted especially in the big city areas, where flat prices in central Stockholm fell by 6 percent, in Gothenburg by 7 percent and Malmö by 9 percent over 2011.

But according to Wörmann, there has been some indication that the prices are stabilizing during the first month of the year with house prices rising by 1 percent and flat prices by 5 percent.

However, due to the current financial turbulence in the world it is more difficult than usually to predict how the property market will develop long term.

”But buyers and vendors seem to have adapted to the new situation and are finding it easier to reach an agreement,” Wörmann told TT.