(Bloomberg) -- Swedish home prices maintained their modest recovery in October, a typically weak month in the Nordic country’s housing market, according to data from state-owned bank SBAB.
In non-adjusted terms, the price of homes dropped by 0.9% last month. However, when accounting for seasonal effects, SBAB’s data showed a 0.5% increase from the previous month.
The data illustrates how the Swedish market has continued to regain its footing this year after a 15% plunge between April 2022 and the end of 2023. Housing prices have so far increased by about 6% in 2024, more than SBAB’s forecast for a 5% gain by year-end, helped by a lower cost of financing to make home purchases.
“Since the housing market is typically weak, with declining prices, in late autumn, that forecast is still within reach,” the bank’s chief economist, Robert Boije, said in a statement. “A historically high supply of homes for sale also support that thesis.”
Sweden’s central bank will announce a decision on its benchmark rate next week, and expectations have shifted decisively in favor of a half-point cut, as inflation remains below its 2% target and data this week showed that the country’s economy remains in a holding pattern.
Boije also noted that “there may be a pent-up need to move, and perhaps also some burgeoning optimism in the wake of declining interest rates.”
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