Housing supply in Skellefteå (single-family homes and apartments, excluding new builds, plots and other properties), number of listings.
"Lediga bostader in Skellefteå" means "Available housing in Skellefteå".
The crisis and subsequent bankruptcy of battery manufacturer Northvolt, in Skellefteå is severely impacting the city’s housing market.
– When the first round of lay-offs was announced, we saw an increase in terminated rental contracts. Then there was another spike following the bankruptcy in March, says Anna Ersson, head of customer relations and marketing at Skebo.
It’s a stark contrast to just a few years ago, when Northvolt’s arrival and expansion helped overheat the housing market and triggered a wave of planned new developments.
It’s in newly built housing that Skebo is seeing the most pronounced effects.
– Those who moved to Skellefteå to work at Northvolt were primarily given apartments in new developments. And that’s also where we’re seeing the most terminations and the highest number of vacancies, says Ersson.
The company is in the process of building around 450 new apartments, and those projects will be completed. But two other projects, still in the planning phase and totalling 350 apartments, have been put on hold.
– There are still conditions for long-term growth. But there may be a short-term slump with tougher times along the way, says Ersson.
Anna Ersson, head of customer relations and marketing at Skebo.
Major changes are also visible in the market for tenant-owned flats and houses. More than 500 properties are currently for sale, excluding new developments. Looking at a four-week period, that’s a 112 percent increase compared to the same period last year. Homes are also taking longer to sell.
“It’s definitely a slower market right now. Bidding wars are almost non-existent. We track the difference between asking price and final sale price, and over the past four weeks, bids in Skellefteå have dropped by an average of –1.6 percent,” writes Karin Grundeus from SBAB’s property site Booli in an email.