Has anyone any experience of buying in Sweden?

E

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Just that really. I have seen that Sweden has had quite a bit of press recently and I was wondering if anyone on here had invested there?
 
Hi there,

I have a property in Sweden. To be honest I am not an expert on the scene there but there are a few things to note (from my experience):
-Prices are a lot lower than here. 12 years ago when I started going to Sweden it was an expensive country. Not any more! They have not had the same rate of hyper house price inflation as us so you will get good value for money. Whether you can make money or not is another point.
-The conveyancing system is much simpler than in Ireland. One of my pet hates is the way that lawyers here complicate everything. When I was buying it was simply a case of signing a straight forward contract which gave me the very same security that I have here and later getting the title deeds and registering with the land authorities. Very straight forward.
-Over the last few years the capital growth has been reasonably good I would say averaging 6-8% every year so it is fairly good while not as high as Ireland.
-Sweden has property tax. Where I am it is roughly 1% although it may be different in other areas. This has the net effect of keeping prices down
-You may see apartments or homes that seem to be about 40% of what they would be in Ireland. You need to check the type of ownership.
-The form of ownership for apartments, in particular, tends to be different than in ireland. Most people own through membership of apartment cooperatives i.e. they own a share in the apartment block. Therefore, the other members tend to have more say in who rents the apartment and selling on your share tends to be more complex.
-Wealth is taxed more heavily in Sweden. I don't know the rates but capital gains is likely to be higher than Ireland.
 
Thanks Markn, very helpful info. Can I ask you about the different regions, where would you think is a good area to invest? I mean I'm probably thinking of a holiday home type of property, any ideas where is best?
 
Thanks Markn, very helpful info. Can I ask you about the different regions, where would you think is a good area to invest? I mean I'm probably thinking of a holiday home type of property, any ideas where is best?

My understanding - from a colleague whose home is in Sweden - is the system there is that purchasing property is a rarity. The quoted price is usually the leasehold fee plus an annual rental. You purchase a limited right of use.
 
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