Stockholm apartment prices reach record levels

Apartment prices in the Swedish capital hit record levels in June, according to figures published Tuesday.

The average square-meter price of an apartment in greater Stockholm topped 50,000 SEK (5,877 U.S. dollars) during the month, according to a study published by the realtors' organization Svensk Maklarstatistik.

"That's the level the center of the city reached in 2009," Per-Arne Sandegren, the organization's chief analyst, told daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet.

The realtors noted only a marginal month-to-month increase in downtown Stockholm, where apartments cost an average of 82,400 SEK (9,685 U.S. dollars) in June, having surged by 17 percent over the past year.

Meanwhile, the average square-meter price of a house was 5.1 million SEK in Stockholm, nearly twice the national average of 2.6 million SEK. (1 U.S. dollar = 8.51 SEK)