Inner-city househunters set sights on suburbs
Plateauing house prices in inner-city Stockholm could be a sign that home-hunters are abandoning the urban centres and heading to the suburbs, Swedish estate agents have predicted.
"The price increase has been so steep that people have started looking at other alternatives," Peeter Pütsep, CEO of estate agents Svensk fastighetsförmedling, told the Dagens Industri (DI) business daily on Tuesday. "They either stay put, renovate, or look to the outer neighbourhoods."
DI reported that house prices had risen by five percent in the past year while apartment prices had climbed steeply by 14 percent. The newspaper has previously reported on the sellers' market leading to very high price expectations, but many estate agents testified that the last few weeks' price increase halt meant buyers may be getting pickier.
"There is some kind of slowing down going on, that's a fact, but whether it is temporary or more long-term is the question," Pütsep said.
He said that apartment prices in the suburbs were now starting to climb.
"There are more people who see the outer neighbourhoods as an alternative than there were a year ago," he told the paper.
Swedish estate agents also said they saw city-lovers are getting ready to cosy up more as an increasing number of Swedes felt it was ok to live on very restricted surfaces, as long as they could be in town.
"We see a higher demand for small properties in Stockholm," Fastighetsbyrån spokesman Johan Vesterberg told DI. "A lot of people may want to live centrally but choose to squeeze into smaller spaces."
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"The price increase has been so steep that people have started looking at other alternatives," Peeter Pütsep, CEO of estate agents Svensk fastighetsförmedling, told the Dagens Industri (DI) business daily on Tuesday. "They either stay put, renovate, or look to the outer neighbourhoods."
DI reported that house prices had risen by five percent in the past year while apartment prices had climbed steeply by 14 percent. The newspaper has previously reported on the sellers' market leading to very high price expectations, but many estate agents testified that the last few weeks' price increase halt meant buyers may be getting pickier.
"There is some kind of slowing down going on, that's a fact, but whether it is temporary or more long-term is the question," Pütsep said.
He said that apartment prices in the suburbs were now starting to climb.
"There are more people who see the outer neighbourhoods as an alternative than there were a year ago," he told the paper.
Swedish estate agents also said they saw city-lovers are getting ready to cosy up more as an increasing number of Swedes felt it was ok to live on very restricted surfaces, as long as they could be in town.
"We see a higher demand for small properties in Stockholm," Fastighetsbyrån spokesman Johan Vesterberg told DI. "A lot of people may want to live centrally but choose to squeeze into smaller spaces."
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