The Swedish housing market: Trends and risks

The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council. Preface In December 2011 the Swedish Fiscal Policy Council invited me to prepare a report on recent trends and risks in the Swedish housing market. My background for accepting the invitation was my long-standing interest in the Swedish economy and Swedish economic policy and my research on the Danish housing market while I was serving as Chief Economist of the Danish central bank. Most of the work on the report was carried out during the summer and fall of 2012. Section 5 of this report draws on joint research with my Copenhagen University colleague Michael Bergman who is also a former member of the Fiscal Policy Council. I am grateful to Michael for inspiring collaboration; his econometric skills were indispensable for the work reported in section 5. Thanks are also due to Georg Marthin and Johanna Modigsson for assistance in gathering some of the data used in the report. Finally, I want to thank John Hassler, Steinar Holden and Irma Rosenberg for constructive comments on earlier drafts of the report. I am solely responsible for any remaining errors or shortcomings. 3.1 What do we mean by a " housing bubble? " ..