Foreign ownership of holiday homes

Large differences among counties

Regional variation in foreign ownership of holiday homes in relation to the total stock of holiday homes is considerable. The percentage of foreign ownership is by far the greatest in Kronoberg County at 40 percent, although it is also significant in Värmland at 24 percent, at 14 percent in Jönköping and at 12 percent in Blekinge. In 12 counties, foreign ownership is less than 5 percent, and in Stockholm, Uppsala, Södermanland, Gotland and Västmanland counties, foreign ownership is less than 1 percent of the stock.

The largest numbers of foreign-owned holiday homes are located in Västra Götaland (7 575), Värmland (6 308), Kronoberg (4 584) and Skåne (3 530) counties.

Foreign owners mostly from Norway, Denmark and Germany

Foreign owners come primarily from Norway (12 133 holiday homes), Denmark (10 465) and Germany (10 028). In total, 87 percent of foreign-owned holiday homes have owners from these three countries. The fourth leading ownership country is the Netherlands, with 1 338 holiday homes.

Norwegian ownership dominates

Among the countries that account for the largest shares of ownership of holiday homes in Sweden, only Norwegian ownership increased in 2018. Last year, Norwegians increased their ownership by 250 holiday homes, an increase of 2.1 percent. By contrast, Danish owners of holiday homes decreased their ownership by 282 holiday homes in 2018, a decrease of 2.6 percent. This was the sixth consecutive year that Danes decreased their ownership of Swedish holiday homes. The number of owners from Germany and the Netherlands decreased slightly between 2017 and 2018, while the group ‘other countries’ increased slightly. In the group ‘other countries’, owners from Switzerland increased their ownership the most, by 28 holiday homes.

Germans bought first – Norwegians buy now

The number of foreign-owned holiday homes has increased by 19 200, which corresponds to 106 percent, since 2000. Owners from Germany were the first to begin buying holiday homes in Sweden, and by 2000 roughly 9 000 Swedish holiday homes were owned by Germans; 18 years later, this figure has increased to roughly 10 000. Danes were most active in the Swedish holiday home market in the period 2000–2008, but their activity subsequently declined. With the 2018 decrease, Danes have reduced their ownership for six consecutive years. The total decrease in the past six years is 1 231 holiday homes, which is a decrease of 11 percent. Compared with the year 2000, the number of holiday homes owned by Norwegian owners and Danish owners has increased by 9 591 houses (377 percent) and by 6 029 houses (136 percent) respectively, despite the decline in Danish ownership in the last six years.

Most foreign owners in Strömstad

Strömstad, Tanum, Åre, Torsby, Ljungby and Årjäng are the six municipalities with most foreign-owned holiday homes. In each of these municipalities alone, more than 1 000 holiday homes are foreign-owned. There are 1 569 holiday homes in Strömstad, 1 328 in Tanum, 1 165 in Åre, 1 104 in Torsby, 1 101 in Ljungby and 1 020 in Årjäng with foreign owners.

In 21 municipalities, at least one third of the holiday homes have foreign owners. The largest share of foreign ownership of a municipality’s total holiday home stock is reported in Markaryd, where 59 percent of the total holiday home stock is foreign-owned, followed by Tingsryd at 49 percent, and Älmhult, Munkfors and Uppvidinge at 47 percent each.

Expatriate Swedes’ ownership of holiday homes

Portugal is increasing sharply and United States is decreasing

In total, 12 825 holiday homes in Sweden are owned by Swedes living abroad. Swedes living in Norway own the largest number of holiday homes in Sweden (2 800). This is followed by Swedish owners living in Germany (1 564), the United Kingdom (1 210), Switzerland (1 071) and Denmark (967).

Swedes living in Portugal account for by far the largest increase. In 2018, 590 holiday homes were owned by Swedes residing in Portugal, compared with 424 in 2017, 332 in 2016 and 241 in 2015. This represents an increase of 145 percent between 2015 and 2018. Conversely, Swedes living in the United States decreased their ownership of holiday homes in Sweden over the past two years. In 2018, 810 holiday homes were owned by Swedes residing in the United States, compared with 1 187 in 2017 and 1 339 in 2016. This represents adecrease of 40 percent between 2016 and 2018.

Expatriate Swedes own most holiday homes in Västra Götaland, Skåne and Stockholm

Most holiday homes owned by Swedes living abroad are located in Västra Götaland, Skåne and Stockholm. Swedish owners living abroad own 2 458 holiday homes in Västra Götaland, 1 868 in Skåne and 1 640 in Stockholm. These three counties also apply for all the countries reported in the table below, except for Norway and Denmark. Norwegians own most holiday homes in the counties of Dalarna and Jämtland and particularly many in Västra Götaland and Värmland, adjacent to the Norwegian border. Danes own most holiday homes in Skåne and Kronoberg counties.

There are 27 municipalities in which expatriate Swedes own more than 100 holiday homes. Most of these holiday homes are located in Värmdö (461), Tanum (378), Norrtälje (367) and Båstad (321).