10 cents per square meter: Land in Sweden became a sales hit

Building land for around ten cents per square meter: Because of such a bargain offer, a small town in southwest Sweden has been literally overrun by interested parties. “We started the campaign in mid-April,” the mayor of the 5,000-inhabitant town of Götene, Johann Mansson, told the AFP news agency.

30 plots of land that had been abandoned for decades were offered for sale for one Swedish crown (around ten cents) per square meter. It was a “crazy idea” and a marketing campaign. With the tempting offer, the municipality wanted to create more living space in the sparsely populated area and thus stimulate growth in the region, said Mansson. The plots of land on offer were between seven and 1200 square meters in size. By purchasing them, the new owner committed to building a house on them within two years.

Spread like wildfire

Shortly after the campaign began, three properties were sold – “a great success for such a small community,” said Mayor Mansson. “We could never have imagined what was in store for us.”

When a local television station reported on the unusual offer at the end of June, the story spread like wildfire: Swedish media reported, a video was shared on the Tiktok platform, two English-language media outlets picked up the story, and millions of people discovered Götene and its unbeatable land prices.

Interested parties from Australia

From that point on, the city administration was inundated with emails and calls. Sales were temporarily suspended so that all offers could be examined. “We have interested parties from Europe, Asia, especially India and Pakistan, from the USA, Australia and even South America,” said Mayor Mansson. The campaign was therefore successful in “putting the small town on the world map.”

The sale of the properties is scheduled to continue with an auction at the beginning of August.