- During the spring, the markets tend to be positive and prices go up. Now we only see a slight upturn if we look back three months. This may indicate the effects of the corona virus, says Per-Arne Sandegren, head of analysis at Swedish Real Estate Statistics.

Even in the past month, the otherwise upward trend in prices has shifted and instead stopped. In March, prices remained unchanged in the Greater Stockholm, Greater Gothenburg and Stormalmö regions. Among the central parts of the three largest cities, only prices in central Stockholm increased.

- Had the market continued as most of 2019 and early 2020, we would have seen small price increases in the metropolitan areas, while we now see that they are unchanged, Per-Arne Sandegren notes.

Substantial reduction

The biggest difference seen in the market is the number of condominiums sold. At the beginning of March, sales were higher than usual and during the first two weeks more condominiums were sold than the same period last year. But after mid-March, the market swung.

- It is the drop in the number of condominium sales in recent weeks that really stands out. In the last two weeks of March, there were 15 per cent fewer tenant-owners than the corresponding weeks in 2019, says Per-Arne Sandegren.

Continued impact

- The housing market usually follows the business cycle. All the signals regarding notice and layoffs will be reflected in the business cycle, and it is very unlikely that it will affect the housing market in one way or another.

The question now is how big the trace of the current crisis will leave the market - which depends entirely on how the development will take place in the future, says Per-Arne Sandegren.