The Swedish Competition Authority closes the investigation concerning Svensk Mäklarstatistik

The Swedish Competition Authority has investigated whether Svensk Mäklarstatistik AB’s decision to no longer deliver data with publishing rights to Valueguard Index Sweden AB (Valueguard) constitutes a violation of the Competition Act’s prohibition on abuse of a dominant position.

Svensk Mäklarstatistik, which is owned by Sveriges Fastighetsmäklarsamfund (the Swedish Real Estate Agency Association), collects, compiles, and publishes statistics on property transactions. The company also sells data to Valueguard, among others, which based on the data has developed a price index for properties in Sweden, the HOX index. Valueguard’s HOX index is published on an ongoing basis on the company’s website and is used by a number of Valueguard’s customers, including several banks and government agencies that use the index in their own publications.

When Svensk Mäklarstatistik terminated the current agreement with Valueguard in the spring of 2020, the company announced that it no longer intended to deliver data with publishing rights to Valueguard. On 1 July 2021, the Swedish Competition Authority issued an interim decision that Svensk Mäklarstatistik should continue to deliver data on property transactions with publishing rights to Valueguard, in order to protect competition on the market that is dependent on data and the right to publish statistics, for as long as the investigation was ongoing.

The Swedish Competition Authority’s investigation has shown, among other things, that the data collected by Svensk Mäklarstatistik is of high quality. The investigation has also shown that Valueguard’s HOX index is important for many market participants, including the banks and agencies that use the information in their own publications. However, the investigation has not found clear support that it would be of decisive importance for Valueguard’s customers that the company’s index is made public.

During the investigation, Svensk Mäklarstatistik informed the Swedish Competition Authority that the company intends to continue with daily deliveries of data on property transactions to Valueguard. It will no longer be permitted to publish the HOX index on Valueguard’s website, but the company’s customers will continue to be able to use and refer to it in various contexts.

“Our investigation has shown that the decisive factor for Valueguard’s customers is the possibility of using and making reference to the HOX index, not that it is publicly available. This, together with the assurances and intentions stated by  Svensk Mäklarstatistik regarding the continued delivery of data and the customers’ continued access to the HOX index, means that we now have decided to close the case,” says Rikard Jermsten, Director-General of the Swedish Competition Authority.

In light of what the Swedish Competition Authority’s investigation has shown and what Svensk Mäklarstatistik has announced, the case will therefore be closed and the interim decision of 1 July 2021 will no longer apply.

Marie Strömberg Lindvall, Press Officer, +46 76 542 15 92, marie.stromberglindvall@kkv.se
Martin Mandorff, Division Manager, tel. +46 8 700 15 53, martin.mandorff@kkv.se

Read the decision, dnr 348/2021 (in Swedish)