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Swedish property prices continue downward trend

Swedish property prices continued to fall in June, and it looks like they'll keep falling, according to SBAB chief economist Robert Boije. Advertisement Property prices fell by 0.9 percent nationally last month, according to an index put together by SBAB and property site Booli. Prices do tend to fall in June but even with seasonal effects removed they saw a drop of 0.2 percent, which is a bit more than usual, Boije said, adding that this reflects a general trend for the year so far. "We've seen a negative trend all spring, and that's despite the fact that we have significantly lower interest rates than we did at this point last year," he told the TT newswire. Boije believes that external factors, such as US President Donald Trump's trade tariffs and geopolitical instability in the Middle East, are two possible reasons behind things slowing down on the housing market. "In that kind of situation you become more cautious about making these kinds of large decisions and how much you're willing to pay," he said. That could also be one of the reasons the market for detached houses (villor) has seen the largest drop, with a 3.2 percent decrease in the Stockholm region in particular. "We know prises for villor are highest in Stockholm and maybe concern about global issues is affecting things to a greater extent in areas where prices are highest," he said. Advertisement SBAB predicted that property prices would rise by 3 percent this year in its latest market forecast. Boije does not agree, however, with the theory that prices have reached their lowest point, citing seasonal factors and the fact that longer fixed-term mortgage rates have not yet dropped. "Those are the key things that are important for property prices," he said. "Instead, I'd say we might have to revise our property price forecast downwards for this year," he told TT. Boije added that further interest rate cuts, among other things, could get property prices to rise again. "Say that Trump stops all this stuff with tariffs and we get a calmer global situation, those could also be positive factors," he added.