Hemnet Q3 Sales Fall 18% as Free Listings Wait in the Wings

Swedish real estate portal Hemnet has reported third-quarter net sales of SEK 301.5m, down 17.8% on a year ago. These are the last numbers under the old model: free listings went live two days before the report, and a new agent compensation model starts on 1 November.

Highlights from the interim report for the three months to 30 September 2026 include:

• Net sales down 17.8% to SEK 301.5m
• EBITDA down 26.3% to SEK 144.1m, a margin of 47.8% against 53.3%
• Operating profit down 30.3% to SEK 119.4m
• Revenue from property sellers down 20.4% to SEK 248.7m
• Paid listings down 29.6% to 29,300; published listings down 13% to 36,200
• ARPL up 9.2% to SEK 8,986

Part of the decline is timing with the company's new Sellers on "Sell first, pay later" model (rolled out nationwide in March), only realising revenue when the home sells, so revenue lands after the listing goes up. Hemnet puts the published-to-paid gap at roughly 7,000, down from 10,400 in Q2, so the backlog is starting to convert.

Hemnet says roughly four in ten sellers chose the premium-priced pay-later option, and Premium upgrades plus earlier price rises lifted ARPL.

Hemnet launched free entry-level listings for agents on 20 October and will index listings from agency websites, so every home for sale in Sweden appears on the portal. In September, Hemnet's own presentation put rival Booli on about 89,000 listings against its 55,000.

CEO Jonas Gustafsson said: "To take the next natural step, and ensure that Hemnet reflects the entire market, we announced an initiative in late September to bring together all properties for sale."

Alongside the model change and the free listings announcement earlier this month, there were also cutbacks. Headcount at Hemnet is set to fall from 184 to about 115, saving SEK 80m to 85m a year from the first half of 2027. One-off costs, due in Q4, are now SEK 36m to 37m, up from the SEK 30m to 35m flagged in September.