Several risks for households in tenant-owned housing
Economic Commentaries, News The debts and interest-rate sensitivity of housing cooperatives can increase the risks associated with household indebtedness. If the cooperative has to increase its fees to service its debt, the household may not only have to pay higher monthly fees to the cooperative but also have higher interest expenses for its own bank loan. Regarding newly built homes, individual households might be hit by financial losses if housing prices were to fall before they moved to their new home.
Swedish household indebtedness has been increasing for a long time and is now on a historically high level. This has made households more sensitive to changes that can affect their finances, such as rising interest rates and falling housing prices. The Riksbank and others have, for a long time, been pointing out the risks that high and rising household indebtedness poses to financial and macroeconomic stability in Sweden.
This Economic Commentary investigates how financial stability is affected by high indebtedness among housing cooperatives and tenant-owners and the risks they are thus exposed to.
By Anna Lidberg, who works in the Financial Stability Department of the Riksbank.
The Riksbank's Economic Commentaries contain, for instance, short analyses and debate articles. The opinions expressed in Economic Commentaries are those of the authors and are not to be seen as the Riksbank's view.