Lockpris

What it means

Lockpris (a “bait price”) is when the estate agent deliberately sets an utgångspris (asking price) lower than the home is worth, or lower than the price the seller is actually willing to accept. The point is to pull in more bidders. Misleading price information in the marketing breaks Swedish marketing law, and the agent has a duty to make sure the price does not mislead you as a buyer.

How big a gap is accepted

There is no exact line in the law for how far below the value an asking price may sit. Case law still gives a useful marker: an asking price set just over ten percent below the agent’s assessed market value is not treated as a material deviation. The reverse is also allowed. Setting a high asking price is fine too. A price that matches the seller’s lowest accepted level does not break good estate agency practice, even if it clearly sits above the market value.

What you do as a buyer

Do not anchor to the starting price, whether it feels low or high. It does not always tell you what the home will go for. Instead, look at final sale prices for similar homes in the area, so you form your own view of what a reasonable bid looks like. That keeps you steadier in the bidding and less swayed by how the price was set at the start.