Esperad que hay más risas.
6000€ more expensive for the Stockholm family
Households' purchasing power has already begun to decline. Higher mortgage rates will further drive this development. For those looking for a new home, it is now the "buyers' market" according to Hemnet.
Four terraces in different directions were probably the bait when a large floor in Stockholm's inner city became the week's most clicked object at Hemnet (idealista sueco). Over 50,000 visitors wanted to take a closer look at the attic located in the popular Birkastan.
But if it tastes good, it costs: SEK 32 million (3.2M€) is the price tag for six rooms and a kitchen of 178 square meters - but then the floor is called "exceptional" when Hemnet compiles this week's click statistics.
But the question many are asking right now is what is happening among buyers and sellers in a broader housing market.
An indication came last week from Swedbank, which calculated that households' purchasing power began to decline already during the first quarter of this year. And according to Swedbank, that development is likely to continue. According to the bank's interest rate forecast, an average household can expect SEK 2,000 (200€) to 2,700 (270€) higher housing costs per month compared with before.
In Stockholm, where many have much higher mortgages than elsewhere in Sweden, Swedbank expects housing costs to rise by SEK 4,400–5,500 (casi 500€ más al mes) for the average household with two adults. It is thus around SEK 60,000 a year that the new interest rate situation will burn for many Stockholm families.
At Hemnet, analyst Erik Holmberg calls the new situation "buyers' market".
- Ever since the Riksbank announced higher interest rates, we have seen a clear market impact. Many want to sell now, while buyers often wait. For the past three weeks, the range of apartments at Hemnet has therefore been at an all-time high, he says.
Positive for the speculators in the "buyers' market" is that the bidding heat from last winter is blown away. There is no longer a shortage of items on the market.
As so often, it is the housing market in Stockholm that fluctuates most strongly.
- In the country as a whole, the housing market is resisting well, even though you see slightly weaker house prices now, especially in Stockholm. And on condominiums in Stockholm's inner city, the new interest rate situation of course has a special impact because the price situation there is highest, says Erik Holmberg.
He notes that in situations where many want to sell but fewer want to buy, many sales are not made, which is why the price levels registered with brokers are not as stable market indicators as when business is running at a steady pace.
When the mortgage bank SBAB now in May asked existing homeowners about their views on home prices, it emerged that most people nevertheless believe in long-term rising values. In three years' time, 44 per cent believe in a rise in prices, while 15 per cent believe a fall in prices. This can be compared with 62 and 5 percent, respectively, when SBAB asked the same thing in February.
But price expectations are weaker than before, and the Riksbank has also issued a subdued forecast last week. As a result of rising interest rates, high energy prices and a weak development in disposable income, housing prices in Sweden will fall somewhat in the coming years.
The Riksbank also mentions "a risk that the adjustment process will be more abrupt and that housing prices will fall significantly" in its stability report, which came out the other day.
According to the Riksbank, there is also continued uncertainty about how households' housing preferences may change after the pandemic. The bank does not rule out that part of the price increase during the pandemic will be reversed - ie also with increased price pressure as a result.
But some housing dreams are unlikely to be affected. Like the classic dream of having your own island. When Hemnet recently put its own island up for sale at Tyresta National Park, it led to tens of thousands of clicks. On the island there is a year-round house.
The broker Bjurfors has a price tag of 10 million (1M€), and believes that the future owners of the island paradise like to enjoy "nature, the glitter of the water, the waves and the beautiful sunsets over the lake".
