Swedes turned less optimistic about the housing market in November, a report showed, after figures suggested a long run of price rises may be ending and authorities prepared to squeeze mortgage borrowers to reduce the risk of a crash.
A surge in building and tougher mortgage rules has put the brakes on a 20-year bull run in Sweden's property market and buyers have started to take a more sober view on interest rates, which are expected to start rising next year.
Monday's Housing Price Indicator from banking group SEB posted its second-biggest drop ever, declining by 39 points and trailing only a steeper fall 10 years ago.
According to SEB, 43 percent of households expect prices to rise over the coming year, down from 66 percent the previous month. The number expecting prices to decline doubled to 32 percent.
With the economy growing strongly, unemployment relatively low and rates at rock bottom, most analysts do not expect a crash.
"We are not talking about a long-term deep slump in the housing market," said Knut Hallberg, an analyst at Swedbank. "There would need to be some kind of global macro shock for that to happen."
Nevertheless, many are worried.
Real estate prices fell 1.5 percent in September and rose just 0.5 percent over the last three months, according to the Nasdaq HOX Valuguard-KTH Housing index. Real estate agents have reported prices declined further over the last month.
Shares in property developers have slumped, hit by the glut on the market and increased caution among buyers. The crown has weakened and mortgage bond spreads widened.
Authorities, however, remain concerned that debt levels - among the highest in Europe - are still rising, and they plan further measures to crimp borrowing.
The Financial Supervisory Authority was expected on Monday to ask the government to approve tightening mortgage repayment rules again for those who borrow most.
That could further spook buyers and deepen price falls.
"Poorly thought out political decisions could hurt the property market and, in a worst-case scenario, could spark a property crisis," Norwegian builder and developer Veidekke said in an analysis on the Swedish market.
Countries like Ireland, Portugal and Spain are only just pulling clear of the mess created when their housing bubbles burst a decade ago.