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Business & Money

Foreign buyers flock to Swedish summer homes

Published: 29 Mar 12 12:50 CET | Print version
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/39972/20120329/

More and more foreigners are snapping up summer homes in Sweden, new statistics show, with Norwegians, Germans, and Danes among those most eager to own a slice of Swedish summer paradise.

Last year, foreign ownership of summer cottages in Sweden climbed by 2.9 percent compared to the previous year, according to figures from Statistics Sweden.

Overall, foreigners now own 35,045 Swedish summer homes and cabins, or about 6 percent of the overall stock.

Danes dominate the ranks of foreign owners of Swedish summer homes, with about 12,000 cottages now in the hands of people coming from Sweden's Scandinavian neighbour to the south.

The next largest group of foreign owners is Germans, who own around 10,000 cabins scattered throughout Sweden's vast wilderness.

However, the fastest growing group of foreign summer home owners in Sweden is Norwegians, who recorded a 7 percent increase in their ownership of cottages in Sweden.

Since 2007, Norwegian ownership of Swedish cottages has increased by nearly 35 percent, according to Statistics Sweden, and they now own around 9,000 cabins located in the land of their neighbours to the east.

The largest share of cabins owned by foreigners, 40 percent, is located in Kronoberg County in southern Sweden, and Värmland County in western Sweden, where 20 percent of foreign-owned cottages located.

And in 20 of Sweden's 290 municipalities, at least one third of summer cottages are owned by non-Swedes with the list topped by Markaryd in southern Sweden, where 60.7 percent of the cabins are owned by foreigners.

However, Strömstad in western Sweden and Ljungby in southern Sweden have the highest actual number of foreign-owned cottages, with 1,279 and 1,174, respectively owned by non-Swedes.

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14:12 March 29, 2012 by SimonDMontfort
Some interesting 'number-crunching' here.

These foreign owners should know the commitment they are taking on: many 'second home' owners in Sweden take on virtually all of the repair/renovation work themselves.

'Sommarstuga' dwellings very often do not have running water, electricity (etc), and the (often) inferior standard of insulation in them would make them unfit for that occasional cold, damp summer....
15:24 March 29, 2012 by bourgeoisieboheme
Makes sense since cabins are so expensive in Norway and Denmark, better to drive an hour or two than pay 1 million kr. more in your own country.
21:09 March 29, 2012 by charliedog
Are there any other British stuga-owners out there? My place is basic but I love it, and so do all the Brits who've visited. There's nothing close to this in the UK, unless you're a millionaire.
09:16 March 30, 2012 by JerseyTjej
Wish one of them would buy mine.
17:27 April 1, 2012 by Spuds MacKenzie
I welcome all native Norwegians, Danes & Germans to Sweden! I wish all the immigrants here were also from good countries like this! :)
14:57 April 5, 2012 by stacyparrish
The words "Sweden" and "Paradise" in the same sentence? Buyers beware - be very careful who you hire in Sweden to do ANY construction or improvement work on your vacation home.... this society is full of cheats and "shisters" and the "contracting" industry is NOT regulated in any way. Don't let everyone tell you to hire a Swede and to "stay away from the poles" - Swedes are some of the biggest 'tards in building practices. DO NOT PAY IN ADVANCE.
12:58 December 7, 2012 by Clarabow
does anyone know how to go about selling a summer cottage in Sweden when the owner is in the uk? I know there is blocket se but of course it is all in Swedish. Does anyone know of any German/Dutch sites that one can post to?
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