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PROPERTY

More Swedes expect falling real estate prices

A new study by the bank SEB shows that more and more Swedish households are expecting housing prices to fall.

More Swedes expect falling real estate prices

Of those surveyed, 37 percent believe that housing prices will fall in the coming year.

Compared with last month’s 31 percent, the new figure represents a 6 percent rise in the number of households feeling pessimistic about housing values.

Similarly, the number of respondents believing that real estate prices will increase has dropped from 39 percent to 32 percent.

“Negative economic prognoses, dropping apartment prices, and a falling stock market have given households a gloomy view of the housing market. Interest rates that are two percentage points higher than a few years ago are also straining living costs for households wishing to buy,” said SEB’s Gunilla Nyström in a statement.

The housing price indicators show as well that fewer households are planning to lock in interest rates on their mortgages.

Only four percent of those surveyed who have fully- or partially-variable mortgage rates are planning to move to fixed rates in the next three months. That is the lowest level since SEB started their survey in 2003.

The results of the study come from the responses of 1,002 interviews conducted between January 30th and February 6th by the polling group Demoskop.

RENTING

Rental prices in Norway’s biggest cities continue to rise

The cost of renting in Norway's four largest cities rose overall during the third quarter, with prices up six percent this year, figures from Real Estate Norway show. 

Rental prices in Norway's biggest cities continue to rise

A sharp increase in rent prices in Norway continued throughout the third quarter, figures from Real Estate Norway (Eiendom Norge) released on Tuesday show. 

“Real Estate Norway’s rental housing price statistics show a historically strong rise in rental housing prices in Norway in the third quarter,” Henning Lauridsen, CEO of Real Estate Norway, stated in a report on the latest figures. 

Growth was most robust in Stavanger and Oslo, according to Real Estate Norway. 

“The strong growth in rental prices we have seen in the wake of the pandemic continued in the third quarter, and it is particularly in the Stavanger region and in Oslo that the growth in rental prices is strong,” Lauridsen said. 

Stavanger and nearby Sandnes saw the largest price increases, with the cost of renting there increasing by 4.7 percent during the third quarter. During the same period, rents in Oslo increased by 2.5 percent, while a marginal 0.3 percent rise was recorded in Trondheim. 

While the cost of renting in Norway’s four largest cities overall increased by 2 percent, rental prices in Bergen declined. There, rents fell by 2.5 percent in the third quarter.

Lauridsen said that the increase in rental prices was likely to continue due to several factors. High inflation, interest rates, increased taxes on rental properties and a low supply of homes on the market all contributed to increasing rents. 

However, he did note that the supply of rental homes on the market had increased in Trondheim and Oslo since the summer. 

Lauridsen said that the least well-off financially were being hit hardest by rent rises. Previously, the Norwegian government has informed The Local that it will not introduce a temporary cap on rent increases. 

READ MORE: Norway’s government rules out a temporary rent cap

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