Sweden property firms risk fire sales, say economists

A row of Enskede villas in the Gamla Enskede district in Stockholm, Sweden, on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. The "red hot" housing market in Sweden is likely to slow down after the summer, according to the chief economist at the country's biggest bank, Svenska Handelsbanken AB. Photographer: Mikael Sjoberg/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

SWEDEN’S beleaguered real-estate companies may have to resort to fire sales and new share issues as the sector faces risks of rising vacancies and a projected 15% slump in property valuations.

That’s the view of economists at lender Svenska Handelsbanken AB, including Christina Nyman, who says in a sector report that larger commercial landlords in the country could be forced to offload properties under “a more adverse scenario.”