The downturn began in earnest in August, after years of climbing house and apartment prices, according to Svensk Mäklarstatistik, the organization that keeps stats on the real estate market in Sweden.

In central Stockholm the price for an apartment (bostadsrätt) fell by 8 percent this winter compared to the same period last year. The average price in January was 86,553 kronor ($10,800) per square metre.

In Sweden apartment prices fell by 4 percent and in central Gothenburg by 1 percent. In central Malmö they climbed slightly by 1 percent (but fell by 6 percent between August and January).

The average square-metre price for an apartment in Sweden was 37,979 kronor in January, with Malmö being the cheapest of the three big cities with an average price of 29,633 kronor per square metres.

“The general trend continues downwards,” Per-Arne Sandegren, analyst at Svensk Mäklarstatistik, told the TT news agency, adding that there are signs indicating the downturn may be slowing down.

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When it comes to detached houses, prices across Sweden kept climbing by 4 percent, with buyers coughing up on average 3.203 million for such a property in January. In greater Stockholm they fell by 3 percent, with the average price for properties at 5.317 million kronor.

House prices in Sweden tend to vary greatly and if you look for a countryside home away from the bigger towns or cities you can easily find properties for less than one million kronor.