Sweden Mortgage Rules 2026: Down Payment Drops to 10 Percent

Sweden changed its mortgage rules on April 1, 2026. The minimum down payment on a home purchase fell from 15% to 10%, and the mandatory accelerated amortisation requirement for highly leveraged borrowers was removed. For buyers who have been sitting on the sidelines waiting to save that last 5%, the window just opened.

What exactly changed on April 1

The new rules from Finansinspektionen, Sweden's financial supervisory authority, affect two connected parts of the mortgage framework.

First, the loan-to-value (LTV) ceiling moved from 85% to 90%. This means the bank can now lend up to 90% of a property's value, so the buyer needs to cover only 10% as a down payment. For a bostadsrätt priced at SEK 3,000,000, that is SEK 300,000 instead of SEK 450,000. The difference of SEK 150,000 is meaningful for first-time buyers in particular.

Second, the extra amortisation requirement that applied when a borrower's debt exceeded 4.5 times their gross annual income has been removed. This "debt-ratio amortisation" forced buyers with high loan-to-income ratios to pay down their mortgage faster than the basic schedule required. Removing it increases monthly cash flow for buyers who take large loans relative to their income.

The basic amortisation rule still applies: mortgages above 50% LTV must be amortised at 1% of the original loan per year, and mortgages above 70% LTV must be amortised at 2% per year. Those thresholds have not changed.

Who benefits and by how much

The 10% down payment rule primarily helps buyers who had the income to service a larger mortgage but struggled to accumulate the 15% in savings. In Stockholm, where the average bostadsrätt sold for around SEK 3,900,000 in early 2026 according to Mäklarstatistik, the old 15% requirement meant saving SEK 585,000. The new 10% requirement brings that to SEK 390,000. That is a difference of nearly SEK 200,000.

For buyers in smaller cities and rural areas, the numbers are proportionally smaller but the logic is the same. The reform is not primarily about making housing cheaper; it is about reducing the time required to accumulate the down payment.

Forecasters expect Swedish property prices to rise 5 to 6% nationally in 2026, driven partly by the Riksbank holding the policy rate at 1.75% and partly by this reform stimulating demand. Buyers who have been waiting should factor in that a delay might cost more in price appreciation than it saves in saved equity.

The one catch on refinancing

The April 2026 rules introduced a new restriction on refinancing. When a homeowner increases an existing mortgage, the LTV at the point of increase may not exceed 80% of the current property value. Previously the ceiling for increases was 85%. This means a homeowner who bought at 90% LTV and has not built up significant equity cannot immediately unlock new borrowing. The property must also not be revalued more than once every five years for mortgage increase purposes.

This restriction on re-leveraging is a deliberate counterbalance to the lower deposit rule. The government's intent is to make it easier to enter the market, while limiting the practice of repeatedly drawing equity from rising property values.

What this means for buyers

If your main obstacle to buying has been the size of the deposit rather than the monthly repayment, the April 2026 rule change removes that specific barrier. The Swedish market entering spring 2026 is showing modest upward movement after two years of flat-to-negative prices. Before you proceed, confirm that the property you are looking at is priced in line with recent comparable sales. AiMYNDi surfaces the surrounding market context and flags any discrepancies in the listing automatically, so you can make a bid based on what the street actually sold for, not the asking price.