Swedish Competition Authority Drops Hemnet Investigation

Sweden's competition authority has closed its investigation into Hemnet after the country's dominant property portal agreed to drop the most contentious part of its "sell first, pay later" scheme.

Konkurrensverket had been examining whether Hemnet's two strategic initiatives, launched in December, amounted to an abuse of a dominant position under Swedish and EU competition law.

The first initiative was "sell first, pay later", a payment option letting sellers advertise on Hemnet without paying upfront, provided the listing went live on Hemnet within two days of first appearing on the agent's own website.

The second was a set of strategic partnerships with real estate chains and franchisors, three of which were already signed by launch.

Both moves were aimed at pre-market properties, which have grown as a share of the sales process in recent years.

Konkurrensverket's investigation concerned whether Hemnet's two-day condition, combined with strategic partnerships, risked locking in supply and excluding competitors from a high-demand segment of the market.

Hemnet responded to the probe by launching a summer campaign offering "sell first, pay later" without the two-day condition in May, then told the regulator it would not reinstate the condition once the campaign ends.

Konkurrensverket said there were no longer sufficient indications of harm to competition or consumers to justify continuing the probe; however, it did state that its decision does not amount to a finding that Hemnet's conduct complies with competition rules.

Hemnet said:

The Swedish Competition Authority has decided to close its investigation into Hemnet concerning suspected abuse of a dominant position in the digital property advertising sector.

Following Hemnet's announcement that the so-called '2-day rule' under the 'Sell first, pay later' scheme will not be reintroduced when the current summer campaign expires, and as the Competition Authority assesses that there are insufficient indications of a competition problem regarding the partnerships to justify a continued investigation, the Competition Authority is closing the case.

The case is a reminder of how much scrutiny comes with Hemnet's position in the Swedish market, where the portal still carries listings for around nine in ten homes sold. When the "sell first, pay later" model launched, Fredrik Engdahl—former CEO at Hemnet's rival, Boneo—drew comparisons with Zillow, telling LinkedIn that Hemnet's move meant "brokers and sellers do not have access to all payment options if the property is first published on other housing portals or websites, and only later on Hemnet." Engdahl also argued that "directly or indirectly introducing methods that limit sellers and brokers' options for their housing advertising can never be something positive."