Four Bedrooms in a Converted Water Tower in Sweden
$2.2 MILLION (19.7 MILLION SWEDISH KRONA)
This four-bedroom home is a transformed, 108-foot water tower on Vaxon, an island within the Stockholm Archipelago, about 35 minutes east of central Stockholm, Sweden’s capital. The brick tower was in-built 1923 on one of many highest factors within the space to produce consuming water, and was getting used as a reserve as late as 1989, stated Jan Tivenius, an agent with Residence-Christie’s International Real Estate, which has the itemizing.
The present house owners purchased it in 2000 and transformed it right into a seven-story house with an electrical sauna on the lantern-like prime. The property, on a couple of third of an acre inside a hilly park with pine bushes, has appreciable income-generating potential, Mr. Tivenius stated: Telecom firms presently lease antennae area on the tower’s rooftop, and a small residence over a two-car storage in a separate A-frame wooden cabin will also be rented out.
An unpaved driveway wends up the hill to the tower’s fundamental entrance, which opens into the mixed kitchen, dwelling and eating space, with 16-foot ceilings and herringbone oak flooring. The round brick partitions are lined with massive arched home windows. A second entrance on the again supplies entry to a wooden deck.
The base of the tower has two concentric partitions — an internal circle with an outer hall round it — a configuration that was doubtless supposed to supply added assist for the water tank above, Mr. Tivenius stated. The hall supplies area for a pantry, a rest room and an workplace nook, in addition to the wooden staircase to the flooring above.
The second ground has three bedrooms, a rest room and a storage room. Porthole-style home windows present mild.
The main suite and one other toilet take up the third ground, the place the tile flooring has a glass cutout to see beneath.
The fourth ground is an open space that the house owners have variously used as a music room, tv room and visitor room. The fifth and sixth flooring was the water tank; a ground now separates the 2. The fifth ground is used for storage, and the sixth ground has a rest room and a pc room to accommodate the telecom gear.
The property sits subsequent door to a preschool on the east aspect of Vaxon, which stretches about two miles from finish to finish and gives an energetic harbor, in addition to quite a few outlets and eating places. The island is a part of Vaxholm municipality, a Baltic Sea archipelago comprising 70 islands and about 5,000 residents. A collection of bridges connects the islands to central Stockholm; the bus from Vaxon takes about an hour. Ferries additionally take vacationers to Vaxholms Kastell, an enormous island fortress first constructed within the 16th century to defend Stockholm.
Market Overview
After a hunch in 2017 and 2018, Sweden’s housing costs are hovering as soon as once more. Prices had been up 7.5 % final yr over 2019, with a record-high variety of transactions, in keeping with a report from Nordea, a big Nordic financial institution. The authorities company Statistics Sweden reported an total worth enhance of 6 % for one- and two-dwelling buildings, and 10 % worth development for trip properties.
That development has been pushed virtually solely by demand for homes, versus condos and different residences, stated Susanne Spector, an economist and the chief analyst for Nordea. As in lots of different markets across the globe, the pandemic has shifted patrons’ priorities towards properties with backyard area and room to work remotely, she stated.
The provide of properties is proscribed, as “the normal rotation of older people moving from their houses to city centers has been broken, since people have to stay home,” she stated.
Unlike most different European international locations, Sweden has relied closely on voluntary measures to gradual the unfold of the coronavirus, reasonably than impose strict lockdown measures. As of April 2, the country had reported 813,191 Covid-19 circumstances and 13,498 deaths. Its excess mortality rate in 2020 was significantly decrease than in most European international locations, however increased than in its Nordic neighbors.
Nevertheless, shopper confidence has continued to develop, additional fueling worth development. Many households really feel nicely positioned to purchase, Ms. Spector stated: “Household wealth increased during 2020 — it was a very good year for households overall. Most people have kept their jobs, interest rates are low, and the stock market has boomed.”
Competition for homes is so fierce that, in the course of the first month of 2021, bidding wars drove up promoting costs to a median of Eight % above asking, in keeping with Erik Holmberg, a market analyst for Hemnet, a Swedish itemizing website. In February, the typical time on marketplace for homes hit an all-time low of 18 days, he stated.
Camilla Eggenberger, an agent overseeing Swedish gross sales for Fantastic Frank, stated that in her 33 years out there, she’s by no means seen this huge a divide between the demand for homes versus residences. Everyone needs a bit of land, she stated.
“The Swedish people are known for being very concerned about how they live,” she stated. “We spend a large amount of our income on our homes. Now more than ever people are cocooning, and I think they’re spending even more money on their homes.”
In better Stockholm, with about 2.four million residents within the metropolitan space, the marketplace for homes is extraordinarily brisk. “It’s crazy, really,” Mr. Tivenius stated. “Prices have risen 15 to 20 percent in a year.”
In the suburban areas instantly across the metropolis, homes usually common 10 to 15 million Swedish krona ($1.14 million to $1.72 million), relying on the world, he stated. Anything cheaper than that will require appreciable renovation. More unique properties are priced between 15 and 20 million krona ($1.72 million to $2.29 million), with seafront properties usually nearer to 35 million ($four million), he stated.
Apartments in central Stockholm common round 100,000 krona a sq. meter, or $1,060 a sq. foot, he stated.
Who Buys in Sweden
Foreign patrons make up a small share of householders in Sweden. In 2020, Statistics Sweden reported that 37,979 trip properties had been foreign-owned — about 6 % of the whole. Norwegians accounted for a couple of third of these house owners, intently adopted by Germans and Danes, at 27 % every. Another 2.2 % are owned by Swedes dwelling overseas.
In Stockholm, fewer than 1 % of trip properties are overseas owned.
Ms. Eggenberger stated her nonresident patrons are sometimes diplomats or Swedish residents who’re returning to the nation after working elsewhere for a few years “with a lot of money to spend.”
Buying Basics
There aren’t any restrictions on overseas patrons in Sweden. It is often not essential to rent a lawyer — the vendor’s agent usually handles every part within the transaction, Mr. Tivenius stated.
In better Stockholm, the agent’s fee can fluctuate, however on homes it often averages round 1.5 to 2 %, he stated.
Websites
Languages and Currency
Swedish; Swedish krona; 1 krona = $0.11
Taxes and Fees
Buyers pay a stamp obligation of 1.5 % of the acquisition worth. It applies solely to homes, to not residences, Ms. Eggenberger stated.
The annual property taxes on this home are about 8,500 krona ($970).
Contact
Jan Tivenius, Residence-Christie’s International Real Estate, 011-46-70-617-96-06; christiesrealestate.com
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