House prices fall in Swedish cities

House and apartment prices have dropped in Sweden's major cities in July, figures from Swedish Real Estate Statistics show.

While, on average, the value of houses across Sweden have been solid over the past month, in greater Stockholm and in greater Gothenburg, Sweden's two biggest cities, prices fell by one percent.

In the past three months, house prices in Stockholm fell by two percent while in Malmo, Sweden's third largest city, they went up by one percent in the past month.

The HOX-index, which uses a different method to measure house prices, shows a 1.1-percent drop in national house prices over the past month and a drop of around two percent in the past three months.

"The number of sold villas and apartments nearly halved compared to the month of May for instance," Swedish Real Estate Statistics said in a statement.

The Swedish news agency TT spoke to several estate agents who said the market has been slow during the summer.

"It is obvious that Swedes have other things to do during than summer months than buying and selling homes," wrote Tanja Ilic, CEO of the Swedish Real Estate Agency, in a statement. She added that prices will likely rise in most places around Sweden this fall.

At the same time, the prices of apartments fell by an average one percent in Sweden over the past month, with the steepest drop in central Malmo where prices fell by two percent. The HOX-index showed a 3.5-percent rise in Stockholm during the same period.

In the past 12 months, apartment prices have risen by eight percent and villa prices by 11 percent, according to the Swedish Real Estate Statistics. Endit