The Swedish housing market has been subject to extensive attention in the media recently, and the existence of a housing bubble has been questioned. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the Swedish housing market to investigate if there are reasons to believe that the market is overvalued. The current situation in the housing market will be compared to the United States market prior to the crash of 2007. The models that are used in the paper is the house price-to-income, price-to-rent and imputed rent-to-rent. Other fundamental factors such as rent control, household debt, interest rates, and other policies effecting the housing market will be discussed. The main findings indicate that the Swedish housing market in 2010 is overvalued, however one has to consider that there are limitations to these models such as the extra benefits of owning a house compared to renting.

The Swedish housing market has been subject to extensive attention in the media recently, and the existence of a housing bubble has been questioned. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the Swedish housing market to investigate if there are reasons to believe that the market is overvalued. The current situation in the housing market will be compared to the United States market prior to the crash of 2007. The models that are used in the paper is the house price-to-income, price-to-rent and imputed rent-to-rent. Other fundamental factors such as rent control, household debt, interest rates, and other policies effecting the housing market will be discussed. The main findings indicate that the Swedish housing market in 2010 is overvalued, however one has to consider that there are limitations to these models such as the extra benefits of owning a house compared to renting.

Abstract The topic of an overheated housing market, in Sweden, has been extensively discussed, not least by the media. This thesis will contribute to the debate by answering the question whether a potential price bubble exists in the Swedish housing market. Years between 1984 and 2004 are analysed using conventional metrics, which include house price-to- rent and income ratios respectively, changes in the dynamics of real house prices, as well as demographic variations. The analyse continues with the use of the imputed rent, also known as the yearly cost of ownership. Moreover the fundamental factors; interest rates, indebtedness and turnover of houses are discussed. It will be concluded that the conventional measures can be misleading. The imputed rent is a superior measure since it is the true cost of ownership and it accounts for changes in important determinants of house demand, mainly the interest rate. The answer to the title of this paper is; no, house prices (in 2004) in Sweden did not appear to be particularly overvalued, neither when compared to yearly rents in the tenancy market, disposable incomes, nor when low levels of interest rates are taken into account. However, this does not rule out that house prices cannot fall in the near future. / Sammanfattning Denna kandidatuppsats behandlar ämnet om en möjlig husprisbubbla i Sverige. Sedvanliga tekniker som används vid analysering av prisbubblor innefattar användandet av proportionen mellan huspriser och hyror samt disponibla inkomster. Även dynamiken i reella huspriser och demografiska förändringar utvärderas. I denna analys jämförs åren mellan 1984 och 2004 genom att använda “imputed rent”, vilken representerar den årliga kostnaden av ägande. Även fundamentala faktorer som räntan, skuldsättningen samt omsättningen av hus undersöks. Den slutsats som uppsatsen resulterar i understryker att de sedvanliga bruken kan vara vilseledande och att ”imputed rent” är en bättre teknik. Detta eftersom ”imputed rent” representerar den verkliga kostnaden av ägande samt inbegriper viktiga avgörande faktorer, som räntan. Därför är svaret på titeln; nej, huspriserna (år 2004) i Sverige förefaller sig inte vara särskilt övervärderade, när de jämförs med årliga hyror av likvärdiga hyresrättslägenheter och disponibla inkomster, samt när hänsyn tas till den låga räntan. Detta utesluter dock inte en framtida nedgång av huspriserna.

<p>Abstract</p><p>The topic of an overheated housing market, in Sweden, has been extensively discussed, not least by the media. This thesis will contribute to the debate by answering the question whether a potential price bubble exists in the Swedish housing market. Years between 1984 and 2004 are analysed using conventional metrics, which include house price-to- rent and income ratios respectively, changes in the dynamics of real house prices, as well as demographic variations. The analyse continues with the use of the imputed rent, also known as the yearly cost of ownership. Moreover the fundamental factors; interest rates, indebtedness and turnover of houses are discussed.</p><p>It will be concluded that the conventional measures can be misleading. The imputed rent is a superior measure since it is the true cost of ownership and it accounts for changes in important determinants of house demand, mainly the interest rate. The answer to the title of this paper is; no, house prices (in 2004) in Sweden did not appear to be particularly overvalued, neither when compared to yearly rents in the tenancy market, disposable incomes, nor when low levels of interest rates are taken into account. However, this does not rule out that house prices cannot fall in the near future.</p> / <p>Sammanfattning</p><p>Denna kandidatuppsats behandlar ämnet om en möjlig husprisbubbla i Sverige. Sedvanliga tekniker som används vid analysering av prisbubblor innefattar användandet av proportionen mellan huspriser och hyror samt disponibla inkomster. Även dynamiken i reella huspriser och demografiska förändringar utvärderas.</p><p>I denna analys jämförs åren mellan 1984 och 2004 genom att använda “imputed rent”, vilken representerar den årliga kostnaden av ägande. Även fundamentala faktorer som räntan, skuldsättningen samt omsättningen av hus undersöks. Den slutsats som uppsatsen resulterar i understryker att de sedvanliga bruken kan vara vilseledande och att ”imputed rent” är en bättre teknik. Detta eftersom ”imputed rent” representerar den verkliga kostnaden av ägande samt inbegriper viktiga avgörande faktorer, som räntan. Därför är svaret på titeln; nej, huspriserna (år 2004) i Sverige förefaller sig inte vara särskilt övervärderade, när de jämförs med årliga hyror av likvärdiga hyresrättslägenheter och disponibla inkomster, samt när hänsyn tas till den låga räntan. Detta utesluter dock inte en framtida nedgång av huspriserna.</p>

Submitted by Rodson Heringer (rodsonheringer@gmail.com) on 2014-08-19T13:35:04Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodson Heringer_vfinal.pdf: 585514 bytes, checksum: 47c7b742f2da43456fabe8d31c914054 (MD5) / Rejected by JOANA MARTORINI (joana.martorini@fgv.br), reason: As paginas continuam numeradas. A numeração das paginas deverão ser contadas a partir do índice. on 2014-08-19T13:40:45Z (GMT) / Submitted by Rodson Heringer (rodsonheringer@gmail.com) on 2014-08-19T14:14:49Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodson Heringer_vfinal.pdf: 586286 bytes, checksum: d42505429c5f0cbf765dd2d32c6cb066 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by JOANA MARTORINI (joana.martorini@fgv.br) on 2014-08-19T14:15:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodson Heringer_vfinal.pdf: 586286 bytes, checksum: d42505429c5f0cbf765dd2d32c6cb066 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-08-19T16:15:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rodson Heringer_vfinal.pdf: 586286 bytes, checksum: d42505429c5f0cbf765dd2d32c6cb066 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-08-04 / Este trabalho analisa a variação da taxa de aluguel e do custo de moradia nas cidades de São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro para o período de Janeiro de 2008 a Janeiro de 2014 utilizando uma abordagem quantitativa com base na expectativa de longo prazo da taxa de juros reais, na expectativa de inflação e na valorização do preço dos imóveis em uma janela de 1 ano. Os resultados indicam que a expectativa de longo prazo da taxa de juros reais tem um impacto relevante na variação da taxa de aluguel durante o período abordado, bem como a expectativa de inflação, mas em magnitude menor, enquanto a valorização passada de 1 ano não tem poder explicativo sobre a taxa de aluguel. / We examine the variation of the rent-to-price ratio in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro from January 2008 to January 2014 using a quantitative approach based on the expected long-term real interest rate, the expected inflation rate and the price appreciation of real estate during the last twelve months. The results indicate that the expected long-term real interest rate has a significant impact on the variation of the rent-to-price ratio during the period covered, as well as the expected inflation, but to a lesser degree, while the past price appreciation has no explanatory power.