2022.02.23

Housing production is increasing again

Statistics Sweden (SCB) has published figures for new apartment starts and notes that the curve is now clearly pointing upwards again after a dip in 2018-2019.

 

Regionally, much of the housing production in 2021 will of course take place in the metropolitan areas of Stockholm, Västra Götaland and Stormalmö. But the pace is also high in the rest of the country – Västerbotten is increasing by a full 73% and regions such as Östergötland and Jönköping are also showing high rates of increase.

 

63,900 new homes started in 2021

Statistics Sweden writes in its report: "Preliminarily, new construction of approximately 63,900 apartments began in 2021. This is 16 percent more apartments compared to 2020, when 54,869 apartments began construction. The figures for 2021 are almost on par with the high figures of 2017, when 64,083 apartments were started.".

Goals for construction in Sweden

The government's overall goal for construction, community planning and the housing market is to provide all people in all parts of the country with a socially good living environment where long-term good management of natural resources and energy is promoted and where housing construction and economic development are facilitated. The goal is also a long-term well-functioning housing market where consumer demand meets a supply of housing that meets needs.

The Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning therefore states in its forecasts that approximately 71,000 homes need to be built per year to meet household growth in the country. And we are clearly not there yet.

Single-family homes increase the most +17%

The single-family home market seems to have gained extra momentum during the pandemic, as 12,750 homes were started in single-family homes, which is 17 percent more than in 2020, while the growth rate for homes in apartment buildings was just below that (+16%). The addition from apartment buildings was 51,150 apartments started. Of this, approximately 63 percent are future rental apartments – the rest are other forms of housing, mainly condominiums.

Important for the industry

New construction is an important engine for the economy and very important for many industries with a supplier interest to construction and housing companies. For our industry, this sector is particularly important, as each newly produced home is equipped with a number of new, energy-efficient appliances. A quick calculation quickly shows that the 63,900 homes that have been started need to be equipped with approximately 400,000 different appliances upon completion, which is estimated to be 15-20 percent of the total volume on the market for MDA (white goods) in Sweden. An important submarket for our member companies! So Sweden – keep on building!

Kent Oderud, Chairman of APPLiA

Photo: Dylan Hunter/Unsplah