Several brokerage firms have received more and more inquiries from Norwegians who want to get rid of their holiday homes as they can no longer travel freely across the national border due to the pandemic.
Instead, they choose to sell the houses to buy new ones in Norway.
- Of our customers, it is still 50 percent Norwegians and 50 percent Swedes who sell, but the reason why Norwegian customers want to sell is undoubtedly due to the pandemic, says Monica Norberg, real estate agent at Länsförsäkringar in Åre.
- Several of our customers say that they are considering buying something in Oppdal or other cities in Norway, says Joakim Westerlind Wiklund at the brokerage firm Bjurfors to NRK.
Waiting for the correct position
Brokers also notice in Norway that more and more Norwegians are thinking of selling, and this applies not only to houses in Jämtland but along the entire national border.
Many people are waiting for the right opportunity to be able to do the best business possible.
- We get many calls from people who want to sell but who have not decided yet.
They want to know if it is the right situation to sell or not and if they can make a good deal, says Aud Schanke Reinås, broker at Reinås Eiendomsmegling in Stjørdal, to NRK.
Do you think this trend will continue?
- Time will tell, but I understand that people want to sell when the situation looks like it does.
More Swedes are buying
When the Norwegians opt out of Sweden, a group with strong purchasing power also disappears from the Swedish housing market.
However, a new group of buyers has emerged to have its place.
- We have noticed that more Swedes want to buy apartments and houses here due to the pandemic, says Monica Norberg, real estate agent at Länsförsäkringar in Åre.
At the same time, she expects the Norwegians to return.
- It is with sadness in their hearts that they are selling now.
Norwegians like Åre and many are interested in buying new apartments here when the pandemic is over, she says.
Hear Swedish real estate agent Monica Norberg and Norwegian real estate agent Aud Schenke Reinås talk about the housing market in the video.