Worsening housing shortage challenge for Sweden's central bank

Stockholm

HALF a million people are now in line for apartments in Stockholm. That's a number that's likely to cause nightmares at Sweden's central bank that has been forced to go all out in defending its inflation target.

The worsening housing shortage - exacerbated by record immigration - and surging house prices reveal that deeper financial instability risks lie ahead. The combination of already too-high household debt and negative rates "may ultimately be very costly for the economy", the central bank said in a report.