Utilizing a large-scale public health survey in Sweden, this paper analyzes the relationship between the fraction of elderly above the age of 80 who live in various tenure forms, and their social engagement. Social engagement is a measure of both social interaction with others, and overall engagement in society. This measure has an established relationship with mental and physical health, even as the causal mechanism are still understudied. Across 130 municipalities, we find that a higher fraction of elderly living in elderly housing is associated with a lower fraction of elderly classified as having a low level of social engagement. We also find that a higher fraction of elderly living in single-family houses is associated with a higher fraction of elderly classified as having a low level of social engagement. The results support that closer proximity to neighbors, and potentially the engagement offered through services in elderly care, increases overall social engagement among the elderly, thereby also assumably promoting better mental and physical health. We elaborate on the relationship between the findings, and housing policies toward elderly populations.

Purpose – This study investigates how leasehold status affects cooperative apartment prices at the neighborhood level in Stockholm and whether housing cooperatives acted rationally when offered to purchase their leasehold land in 2022. Design/methodology/approach – The analysis is based on more than 20, 000 cooperative apartment sales in Stockholm during 2021. Price effects of leasehold status are estimated at both citywide and neighborhood levels while also controlling for the impact of remaining lease duration. In addition, counterfactual apartment values are calculated under scenarios where cooperatives purchase their land. Findings – Leasehold apartments sell at an average discount of 3.6% in central Stockholm and 6.8% in suburban areas, with neighborhood-level effects ranging from negligible to over 15%. This heterogeneity reflects the importance of local market conditions. A potential explanation for the smaller units in the city center is that leasehold tenure is more common, and substitutes in the form of freehold apartments are less available. The counterfactual analysis shows that land purchases were typically unprofitable for cooperatives, even under the City of Stockholm’s discounted terms. Originality/value – The study contributes by highlighting the heterogeneity of leasehold capitalization within a single metropolitan area and by extending the analysis beyond buyer valuation to the cooperative’s perspective on land acquisition. The findings suggest that the City of Stockholm likely mispriced leasehold land, raising questions about the efficiency of current pricing and policy frameworks.

Rent control measures are typically in place to assist low-income households and decrease segregation. Yet, there is little empirical research on the social impact of such policies and specifically the role of how rent-controlled apartments are allocated. This study analyzes the income-distributional effects of rent control with a novel dataset that includes characteristics of those who received rent-controlled apartments between 2011 and 2016 in central Stockholm, Sweden. Specifically, this paper provides analysis of the impact of allocating apartments through a centrally managed queue with apartments from both public and private landlords. To quantify the rent subsidy, we estimate hypothetical market rents by taking the owner-occupied market as a point of deviation. We find a positive relationship between the rent subsidy and time in que. Apartments in the fourth quartile of subsidy require on average 21 years in que, while those in the first quartile require 10 years on average. There is considerably heterogeneity in the level of rent subsidy, and tenant income. Even as allocating through queuing should benefit high-income households less than allocation based on landlord preferences, we find several regressive effects. Controlling for time in queue, we find that tenants in the fourth quartile of annual income receive monthly rent subsidies that are substantially higher than renters in the first quartile of income. Similarly, rental apartments in the fourth quartile of the subsidy have older tenants with substantially higher incomes compared to less subsidized apartments. The regressive effect is driven by high earners renting larger apartments with larger absolute subsidies and being able to wait longer in queue.

The paradigm shift of focus from rental apartments to owner-occupied units on the Swedish property market has led to a substantial number of rental apartments being converted to cooperative apartments. Such conversions are typically done at prices below market value. This provides strong financial incentives for tenants involved in such a conversion to use their informational advantage regarding the financial management of a cooperative, compared to less informed neighbors and buyers on the general market. This setting also provides a reliable way of estimating the persistence and effects of such an informational asymmetry through nearly 200,000 apartment transactions in Stockholm, Sweden, during the period of 2005 through mid-2014. We find that insiders take advantage of an informational asymmetry as newly formed cooperatives set monthly fees artificially low to increase the probability of a conversion as well as apartment values. However, market participants seem to discount this informational asymmetry as recently converted apartments sell at lower prices.

I denna rapport kartläggs arbetsgång och problem med att värdera råmark, byggrätter och projektfastigheter i Sverige. Rapporten skrivs på uppdrag av RICS för att i ett svenskt sammanhang kartlägga arbetsgången och källor till problem för värdering av råmark, byggrätter och projektfastigheter. Organisationen Samhällsbyggarna har, genom dess värderarsektion, deltagit i framtagandet av rapporten och ställer sig bakom rapportens slutsatser och rekommendationer.       

De två primära metoderna för värdering är ortsprismetod och projektkalkyl, vilka tillämpas av alla respondenter.

Representanter för fastighetsbolag, konsulter, kommuner och banker har intervjuats. Redovisningen i värdeutlåtanden upplevs av branschens företrädare som problematisk. Det gäller särskilt synen på plan- och projektrisk samt redovisning av osäkerhetsfaktorer och antaganden i värdeutlåtanden. Större transparens efterfrågas, framförallt i värdeutlåtanden. I arbete med att göra värderingar anses det svårt att få information om omständigheterna för jämförelseobjekt.

Utifrån resultaten av undersökningen föreslås att följande punkter ska beaktas i varje värdeutlåtande:

• Tydlig beskrivning av objektet och förutsättningarna för värderingen. I detta ingår syftet med värderingen, vilka antaganden som görs (och av vem) samt det stadie av planering marken befinner sig i.
• Begreppet byggrätt bör endast avse mark med lagakraftvunnen detaljplan.
• Vilken typ av värde som avses ska tydligt framgå. Framförallt om det avser ett marknadsvärde under särskilda förutsättningar.
• Det bör också framgå om värdet avser byggklar mark eller om ytterligare kostnader tillkommer.
• När ortsprismetod tillämpas bör jämförelseobjekten redovisas tydligt så att omständigheterna kring varje transaktion framgår. I detta ingår vilken typ av transaktion som avses (köp eller markanvisning), tilläggsköpeskillingar, exploateringsbidrag samt förutsättningar för grundläggning och miljörisker.
• I en projektkalkyl bör de värdepåverkande intäkts- och kostnadsposterna separeras, redovisas och härledas. Känslighetsanalyser bör göras för varje post som bygger på antaganden och har en större påverkan på värdet.
• Det bör tydligt framgå vilken information som saknats eller antagits i värderingen och av vem informationen erhållits av.

Punkterna ovan redovisas i större detalj i rapportens slutsatser och rekommendationer. Dessa ska fungera som en punktlista att gå igenom vid värdering av råmark, byggrätter och projektfastigheter. Alternativt som stöd för den som granskar ett värdeutlåtande.

Using data from Stockholm, Sweden, I examine whether foreclosed properties are sold at a discount. This institutional setting differs from the United States and studies of real estate owned properties. The findings show that properties experience an eight times higher turnover subsequent to a foreclosure Compared with the general market, indicating that professional buyers are taking advantage of a discount. That a substantial fraction of buyers are found to have bought more than one foreclosed property provides further support towards such a pattern. Holding period returns prior and subsequent to a foreclosure also supports a price discount.

Based on data of sold apartments and single-family houses in Stockholm, Sweden, during the period of 2006 through 2013, we find that forced sales of apartments and single-family houses cause a substantial price discount. The results of a hedonic spatial Durbin model show a negative impact on transaction price of 20.1% for foreclosed apartments and 24.6% for foreclosed single-family houses. Furthermore, the price discount increases when the number of attempted auctions is limited, which is the case for forced apartment sales owing to a lost membership in a housing association (forfeited). In those cases, the discount is as high as 29.1%.

The paradigm shift of focus from rental apartments to owner occupied units on the Swedish property market has led to a substantial number of rental apartments being converted to cooperative apartments. Such conversions typically are done at prices far below market value. This provides a setting with strong financial incentives for tenants involved in such a conversion to take advantage of their informational advantage regarding the financial management of a cooperative, as compared to less informed neighbors and buyers on the general market. This setting also provides a reliable way of estimating the persistence and effects of such an informational asymmetry through nearly 200,000 apartment transactions in Stockholm, Sweden during the period of 2005 to mid-2014. We find strong support towards a behavior concurrent with moral hazard; as such insiders mismanage the cooperatives by setting monthly fees artificially low in order to increase the probability of a conversion as well as apartment values. Lastly, market participants seem to discount this informational asymmetry as recently converted apartments sell at lower prices.