Median rent per square meter in Stockholm increased since 2016. While the median rent was 1,233 Swedish kronor annually per square meter in 2016, it had increased to nearly 1,526 in 2023. In 2021, the house price to rent ratio in Sweden stood at 192 Swedish kronor.

The prime rent for office real estate in Stockholm, Sweden, has increased since 2013. It can be seen that in 2021, the annual square meter price of prime office space reached 711 euros which was an increase from the previous year. Stockholm is the third most expensive office market in Europe and boasts some of the lowest vacancy rates.

Stockholm was the city with the most expensive apartments in Sweden in 2024. An apartment in Stockholm cost approximately 7,700 euros per square meter as of the first quarter of the year, while in Gothenburg, the average price was roughly 4,700 euros per square meter. Malmö was most affordable, with an average price of 2,750 euros per square meter. In Sweden, about 65 percent of the population lives in an owner-occupied home. How do prices in Sweden compare to the rest of Europe? The Swedish capital ranked among the 10 most expensive cities in Europe for buying an apartment in 2024. Becoming the owner of an apartment in Stockholm was slightly more affordable than in Amsterdam, but slightly more expensive than in Innsbruck, Frankfurt and Oslo. Is housing in Sweden affordable? The growth of house prices in Sweden slowed down in 2022, allowing incomes to catch up and affordability, as measured by the house price-to-income ratio, to improve. Generally, Sweden has a better housing affordability than most OECD countries that report the indicator.

In 2023, the county of Stockholm reached the highest average rent in dwellings in Sweden, amounting to almost 1,500 Swedish kronor per square meter. The cheapest annual rent of 1,073 Swedish kronor per square meter was registered in Jämtland.

The most expensive location for office real estate in Stockholm in the fourth quarter of 2022 was the central business district (CBD), where the annual prime rent was 8,500 thousand Swedish kronor per square meter. The annual prime rent in the city center was 5,800 Swedish kronor per square meter.

As of the third quarter of 2023, Oslo was the city with the highest apartment rent cost within the Nordic countries. It cost around 27 euros on average per square meter to rent an apartment in the Norwegian capital at that time. Copenhagen followed closely with an average rent of 25.4 euros per square meter. The Swedish capital Stockholm was among the most affordable cities in the ranking, although that was one of the most expensive cities to buy an apartment in.

In the first quarter of 2024, Stockholm was the Nordic city with the most expensive apartments. The average square meter price of apartments was around 7,700 euros per square meter. The capital cities of Norway and Denmark followed in the ranking, with apartments costing respectively 7,430 euros and 6,350 euros per square meter.

The prime rent for logistics properties in Stockholm amounted to 6.3 euros per square meter in 2023, which was higher than any other city in Sweden. The price refers to the top-open market rent and a property of the highest quality and best location. In Ljungby, the prime rent amounted to 4.45 euros per square meter.

Oslo was the Norwegian city with the highest rental prices in the country in 2024. Renting an apartment in the Norwegian capital cost nearly 29,000 Norwegian kroner per month on average, whereas Bergen ranked second, with an average monthly rent of 24,000 Norwegian kroner. The average price of residential housings in Norway was also highest in Oslo. The Nordic market Not only was Oslo the city with the highest rents in Norway, but also in the Nordic region. The capital cities of Denmark (Copenhagen) and Finland (Helsinki) ranked second and third respectively, whereas Stockholm ranked last within a list of 12 Nordic cities. In contrast, Stockholm was the most expensive city to buy an apartment in. Homeownership in Norway The high renting prices in the Norwegian capital could be explained by the renting market trends in the country. The homeownership rate fluctuated over the past decade, but overall decreased, reaching its lowest rate so far in 2020.

Stockholm is the Capital of Sweden and in 2023, close to 985,000 people lived in the municipality. Since 2010, the population there has been growing consistently. While more people are moving to Stockholm, the city area is not growing at the same speed, leading the population density to increase as well. Forecasts for the city expect continuous growth of population over the next forty years.

Economy

In Stockholm, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita was around 734,000 Swedish kronor in 2021. That was much higher than the average GDP per capita in all of Sweden with around 517,000 SEK in 2021. Though it must be noted that living costs are very high in the city and have been increasing in the last years. For example, the average rent per square meter in Stockholm has been rising every single year.

Employment A high majority of people living in Stockholm have a workplace. The employment rate in Stockholm is at 73.6 percent as of 2021.  The sector with the highest number of employees in Stockholm is professional, scientific, technical, and administrative activities, followed by wholesale and retail trade.

Geneva, Switzerland, was the most expensive city to buy an apartment in Europe in the first quarter of 2024. The square meter price in Geneva was nearly 15,650 euros in that quarter, about 2,000 euros higher than the second city in the ranking, Zurich. Cost of rent Rents across the major cities in Europe increased significantly in 2023. One of the main factors driving high rents across European cities is the same as any other consumer-driven business. If demand outweighs supply, prices will inflate. The drive for high paid professionals to be located centrally in prime locations, mixed with the low levels of available space, high land, and construction costs, all help keep rental prices increasing. Mortgage rates The average mortgage interest rates across Europe in 2023 were all under five percent, except in Czechia, Romania, Hungary, and Poland. On an individual level, a difference of one percent would most likely mean thousands of euros in interest on the mortgage a person is paying, making timing key in house purchasing. Mortgage interest rates tend to be lower in Nordic countries due to the financial stability and reliability of its borrowers. Other factors that influence the mortgage interest rates include inflation, economic growth, monetary policies, the bond market and the overall conditions of the housing market. More stable markets also tend to have higher average prices.

In the fourth quarter of 2023, the average difference in surface area between buying and renting real estate in major European cities was 39 square meters. That means that, on average, renting allowed for 39 square meters more than buying. Stockholm had the highest difference in surface area between renting and buying, with a difference of 98 square meters. In contrast, Valencia was the only city where buying enabled one to afford more space than renting, specifically 12 square meters more.

Among the regions in Sweden, the the capital region Stockholm county had the highest population density in 2022, with 374.6 inhabitants per square kilometers. In 2021, more than 2.4 million people lived in Stockholm. In terms of highest population density, Stockholm county was followed by Skåne, with 129 inhabitants per square kilometer. The least populated county was Norrbotten, with only 2.6 inhabitants per square kilometer.

Increasing population density

The population in Sweden is increasing steadily and reached 10.52 million inhabitants in 2022. Because of the growing population, the population density in Sweden increased as well over the past 10 years. In 2012, there were 23.4 inhabitants per square kilometer and in 2022 the number had increased to 25.8. Despite this, Sweden is a relatively sparsely populated country.

Highest rent per square meter in Stockholm

As the most densely populated county, the rents for rented dwellings in Stockholm were higher than in Sweden’s other counties. In 2020, the average rent per square meter in Stockholm county amounted to almost 1,300 Swedish kronor, while the rent in Norrbotten, the least populated county, reached an average of 999 Swedish kronor per square meter.

Prime logistics real estate rents in Europe are projected to grow by up to six percent per year until 2027, according to a 2023 forecast. On average, rents were forecast to rise by 2.76 percent per year. Prague was the only market where rents were forecast to decline. Logistics facilities were one of the commercial real estate sectors with the highest investment prospects in Europe in 2024.

The prime rent for office real estate in Vienna, Austria has increased slightly since 2013. In 2021 and 2022, the annual rent for prime office space amounted to 312 euros per square meter. The average rental rate peaked in 2024 at 342 euros per square meter, up from 306 euros per square meter in 2013. In Europe, London, Paris, and Stockholm were the markets with the most expensive rents.