Mortgage Crash Course – Step 2: Interest Rates

Understand how rates work and how to get the best deal

Fixed vs Variable Rates

Variable Rate ("Rörlig Ränta"): Adjusts every 3 months with the market. Historically cheapest over time, but carries risk if rates spike. No penalty for additional amortization.
Short Fixed ("Kort Bunden Ränta", 1–2 years): A middle ground. Slightly cheaper than long fixed, with short-term stability.
Long Fixed ("Lång Bunden Ränta", 3–10 years): Maximum predictability. Protects against rising rates but usually higher rates, and costly to break early.
Choosing: Base your decision on financial buffer and risk tolerance, not on rate forecasts.

List Rate ("Listränta"): The bank's published rate. Nobody pays this. It's a starting point (upper ceiling) for negotiation.
Average Rate ("Snittränta"): What customers actually pay on average. Published monthly by banks and tracked by comparison sites.
Your Rate: What you personally negotiate. Depends on Loan-to-Value Ratio ("Belåningsgrad"), total business with the bank, and willingness to push.
The Gap: The difference between list rate and your rate can be 0.5–1.5 percentage points. Always ask for your personalized rate.

What It Means: Split your mortgage into parts with different binding periods ("Bindningstider"), e.g. 50% variable, 25% two-year fixed, 25% five-year fixed.
Why Split: Reduces risk without fully committing to fixed. When one part adjusts, only that portion is affected.
Additional Amortization ("Extraamortering"): Keeping part of the mortgage as a variable loan allows paying off chunks whenever you want without penalty.
Downsides: More complexity. Harder to compare across banks. Switching means breaking multiple rate locks.

30% Deduction ("Skattereduktion"): You can deduct 30% of interest costs from your taxes. Pay 10,000 SEK/month in interest, save 3,000 SEK/month on your tax return.
Threshold: 30% applies to the first 100,000 SEK per person per year. Above that, the deduction drops to 21%.
Joint Borrowers ("Medsökande"): Both borrowers claim deductions on their share. Couples can optimize the split.
Automatic: The bank reports to the Swedish Tax Agency ("Skatteverket"). The deduction is applied automatically to your tax return ("Deklaration").
2026 Change: From tax year ("Inkomstår") 2026, only interest on secured loans ("Bolån") qualifies for the deduction ("Ränteavdrag"). Interest on unsecured loans ("Blancolån") is no longer deductible.

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