Stockholm, 5 October 2020 - According to Cushman & Wakefield's analysis of the last quarter's transaction figures, the pandemic outbreak has a continued impact on the market. Q3 2020 showed a clearly lower total volume (SEK 28.4 billion) relative to the same period during the years 2018 (SEK 52.9 billion) and 2019 (SEK 71.6 billion). However, international investors have found their way back to the Swedish real estate market and account for approximately 30% of the total acquisition volume during the quarter. It is mainly American and British buyers who have been active during the period, while Swedish players have accounted for just over 85% of the sales base.
The most active acquirers during the period have mainly been Swedish and international real estate funds and institutions. The figures also show that privately owned real estate companies, listed companies and the public sector were net sellers. It is mainly transactions in the range of SEK 200-499 million and SEK 1-1.999 billion that have been completed. 38% of the volume is in the housing segment, which continues to grow strongly.
Annika Edström, Head of What's Next / Research at Cushman & Wakefield says: “It is clear that the market lost some momentum after the summer, most certainly linked to the fact that new divestment discussions were not started during late spring and during the summer to the same extent as during a normal year. We currently see that the total transaction volume is slightly lower during the third quarter, at the same time as the desire to buy is definitely back.”
Stockholm has returned strongly with almost 40% of the transaction volume during Q3. Västra Götaland and Skåne counties also both have a larger share of the total volume relative to the rest of the country, a clear shift from the second quarter when the majority of transactions took place in regional or smaller cities.
Anders Elvinsson, Head of Valuation & Strategic Advisory at Cushman & Wakefield: “The forecast from Riksbanken of a virtually unchanged repo rate over the next three years combined with improved financing opportunities and a stock market that touches record levels speaks for continued asset inflation. The segments that are judged to develop best in terms of value, and where we have already seen increased activity after the summer, are those where investors and financiers consider the operating net and residual value risk to be low. These segments include community properties, housing, logistics and warehousing and light industry in and around Sweden's larger cities.”
Regions that stand out with high volumes during the third quarter of the year are Stockholm (SEK 11 billion), Västra Götaland (SEK 4.7 billion) and Skåne (SEK 5.3 billion), together they make up almost 74% of the underlying transaction volume.
