House and villa prices jump across Sweden
The price of villas, town houses and semi-detached properties increased by six percent in 2014, according to new figures released by Sweden’s National Land Survey.
The latest statistics suggest the upward price trend is due to low interest rates and a strong ‘household economy’, with increasing numbers of Swedes able to save for and spend money on larger properties.
The island of Gotland showed the biggest rise, with property prices increasing by 14 percent.
Commuter regions Uppland, just north of Stockholm and Västmanland, to the north west of the capital saw the next biggest gains of 11 or 12 percent.
Blekinge in southern Sweden was the only area which saw a small drop in prices (by around one percent).
Although prices have largely been steadily rising across the country, the National Land Survey noted increased polarisation in Sweden, between urban areas where the costs of buying a property have shot up and more sparsely populated rural areas, where prices have not increased so much.
Henrik Roos from the National Land Survey told the TT news agency that “emigration from the countryside” was playing a key role in property prices remaining low there.
He cites “simply not enough homes for sale” as a further key reason why prices have gone up in most locations as well as a low turnover of people moving out of larger houses.
“Those who live in houses like to stay there. To move…usually means an in increased cost, even if they buy something smaller,” he said.
In a few locations, city dwellers buying second homes is the key reason for price hikes, with Roos citing the island of Gotland in south east Sweden as a key example.
“It’s demand from mainlanders pushing up prices. They buy them for recreational purposes,” he said.
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The latest statistics suggest the upward price trend is due to low interest rates and a strong ‘household economy’, with increasing numbers of Swedes able to save for and spend money on larger properties.
The island of Gotland showed the biggest rise, with property prices increasing by 14 percent.
Commuter regions Uppland, just north of Stockholm and Västmanland, to the north west of the capital saw the next biggest gains of 11 or 12 percent.
Blekinge in southern Sweden was the only area which saw a small drop in prices (by around one percent).
Although prices have largely been steadily rising across the country, the National Land Survey noted increased polarisation in Sweden, between urban areas where the costs of buying a property have shot up and more sparsely populated rural areas, where prices have not increased so much.
Henrik Roos from the National Land Survey told the TT news agency that “emigration from the countryside” was playing a key role in property prices remaining low there.
He cites “simply not enough homes for sale” as a further key reason why prices have gone up in most locations as well as a low turnover of people moving out of larger houses.
“Those who live in houses like to stay there. To move…usually means an in increased cost, even if they buy something smaller,” he said.
In a few locations, city dwellers buying second homes is the key reason for price hikes, with Roos citing the island of Gotland in south east Sweden as a key example.
“It’s demand from mainlanders pushing up prices. They buy them for recreational purposes,” he said.
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