Hemnet Bets On Pay-When-Sold Listings To Capture Earlier Inventory

Sweden’s leading property portal Hemnet is rolling out a “sell first, pay later” model and chain-level broker partnerships in a bid to pull more inventory into the portal’s pre-market layer and reduce friction for cautious sellers.

Despite being the dominant portal in Sweden, with around 90% of homes sold in the country listed on its platform, Hemnet has been facing a challenge recently.

After the sharp housing downturn of 2022–2023, Swedish house prices have stabilised and started to recover, but high debt levels, longer selling times and elevated inventory continue to shape behaviour, with many sellers now preferring to sell first and buy later. This has, in turn, meant that many listings have been appearing on Hemnet later in the process and has led to what a company press release called "fragmented and less transparent supply".

To counter that shift, Hemnet has been piloting a model where sellers only pay for a listing if, and when, the home is sold, a project first flagged in its Q3 2025 reporting.

Branded “sell first, pay later”, the offer is now set for a phased national rollout in early 2026: Stockholm in February, Västra Götaland in March and the rest of Sweden in April. Sellers who choose “Hemnet all the way” will be able to publish early on Hemnet and only pay if the transaction completes, as long as the listing goes live on Hemnet within two days of first appearing on the agent’s website. Existing upfront payment options remain, with direct pay still the cheapest route.

Commenting on the new model, CEO Jonas Gustafsson said:

“The changes in the housing market are placing new demands on what a modern property platform should deliver. Our job is to keep developing Hemnet so that sellers, buyers and agents get maximum value throughout the entire sales process. We see that early exposure drives stronger interest and creates better conditions for a successful sale. By combining an offer that lowers the threshold for early publication with deeper, chain-level collaboration, we help more homes become visible earlier on Hemnet—where the largest audience is—making supply more accessible to more buyers and strengthening efficiency and transparency in the market."

In parallel, Hemnet is signing non-exclusive chain-level partnerships with franchisors and large broker brands. Under the framework, Hemnet becomes a recommended marketing partner across the full sales process, with bundled brand and marketing benefits for participating chains.

Where collaboration increases the share of “Upcoming” listings on Hemnet, the agreements also include performance-based compensation. According to a press release, three deals with leading players are already in place, with the model now open to all agency chains on the same terms.

The move follows the launch of premium package Hemnet Max in 2025 and continues a broader push to grow ARPL via value-added services, even as listing volumes have come under pressure.