House prices up in January

House prices increased by 1.8 percent across Sweden last month, according to new statistics from SBAB bank and Booli property site.

However, this doesn’t mean that the property crisis is over, Robert Boije, senior economist at SBAB, warned.

“We think property prices could fall as we enter spring,” he said.

In the first month of the year, apartment prices rose by 2.4 percent on average, and house prices rose 1.4 percent, SBAB and Booli’s figures show.

Boije said, however, that it’s too early to say whether this is a trend, as the property market usually sees a boost in January anyway.

“In January we have a lot of viewings after the market has usually been dead in December. So, prices rose in January, but when seasonal effects are removed, they actually dropped.”

“Therefore, it’s too early to say that this is a turning point in the market, but if prices had kept dropping in January it would have been even gloomier. This shows that the market isn’t completely dead,” he told TT newswire.

Over the last 12 months, house prices have dropped by 15 percent and apartment prices by 9 percent, according to Booli and SBAB.

Swedish vocabulary: säsongseffekten – seasonal effects

Swedish FM: ‘Religion is not part of Nato deal’

Sweden will not compromise on the right to free speech and the rule of law, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billström has said.

He made the comments in response to threats by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to refuse Sweden Nato membership due to a Koran-burning protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm last month.

“Religion is not part of the deal,” Billström said.

Erdoğan has stated that as long as Sweden allows Korans to be burnt and destroyed, Turkey will refuse to approve the Nordic country’s Nato application.

Billström told TT newswire that Sweden has delivered results in all parts of the agreement between Sweden, Turkey and Finland on entering Nato.

“We’re still implementing it. Religion is not part of the deal, but having said that, I understand that those on the Turkish side are upset about what was certainly legal, but not respectful.”

Swedish vocabulary: överenskommelsen – agreement/deal

Majority of young Swedes think society is heading in wrong direction

In a new study of young Swedes by analysts Ungdomsbarometern, based on a survey of over 16,000 young people aged 15-24, a majority of respondents said for the first time that society is heading in the wrong direction.

55 percent of respondents said that society is either completely or partly heading in the wrong direction, 45 percent said that the future on a societal level will be “negative” or “very negative”, but 76 percent said that they felt their own future will be “positive” or “very positive”.

In addition to this, more than half think their generation, referred to as Generation Z, will be worse off than previous generations.

“We can see an increasing, negative view of society,” said Ulrik Hoffman, CEO of Ungdomsbarometern. “We’ve seen things moving in this direction for some years, but it’s increasing in strength.”

The respondents were also concerned about crime, the economy and the climate.

Swedish vocabulary: mörk samhällssyn – a negative view of society

Coffee prices drop – but inflation not over yet

According to independent comparison site Matpriskollen, coffee prices are down at all the major supermarkets in Sweden. This applies to the majority of major brands in Sweden, which have seen a drop of around 10 kronor per kilo.

“The standard prices have dropped, and we can expect that discounts will also follow now,” said Ulf Mazur, CEO and founder of Matpriskollen.

He added that discounts on coffee have been few and far between in recent months as prices have continued to rise, but predicted “offers of three or four packs for a lower price at Easter”.

He also explained that coffee prices are only adjusted five times a year, so this drop in prices should last for a few months at least.

“Coffee varies so much on the global market, so producers have agreed to only adjust the price five times a year.”

In addition to this, coffee harvests in Brazil have been better than expected, and demand for coffee has dropped, he explained.

The drop in demand has led to supplies increasing, leading to a drop in prices for consumers.

Unfortunately, Mazur does not believe we’ll see a similar drop in prices for other food and drink items. He’s still working on the price comparison for January, but it looks like inflation’s not over yet on other goods.

“Coffee lives its own life,” he said.

Swedish vocabulary: prissänkning – drop in prices