Luxury villas are threatened by rising seas

For 40 million you get a magical sea view – and the risk of recurring floods. A matter of fate for the future, according to the municipality that is building dikes around the exclusive Falsterbonäset.

But the broker Staffan Strandh notices no concern among the buyers.

Cocktail parties in the villa gardens. Golf courses with first-class sea views. Horse riding in beautiful nature. White beaches and pastel-colored beach huts frame the historic seaside resort of Falsterbonäset, which has long attracted billionaires, royalty and celebrities in the summer.

The proximity to the sea is the peninsula’s great asset. The real estate ads are filled with promises of “an exclusive lifestyle” and the opportunity to “realize the dream of a house by the sea.” The price tag for a villa on the first floor is around SEK 40 million.

But the sea also poses a threat. Therefore, the municipality of Vellinge has started building the 2.1-mile-long embankment and wall that will protect the low-lying area against the recurring floods that are already happening and, in the long term, rising seas in the wake of climate change.

– We see enormous and rapid changes here. The sea can differ 1–1.5 meters from morning to evening and combined with wind, certain areas become extremely vulnerable. The water is finding its way, says municipal board chairman Carina Wutzler (M).

Disputed embankment

The protective embankment is disputed and has been appealed, among other things by private individuals who worry about obscured views or reduced property values. But Wutzler believes that the construction is a “matter of fate” for Falsterbonäset.

– Who wants to buy a property or live in an area when you don’t know what the future looks like? she says.

– Ultimately, it’s about the security of the residents, feeling that you have a good future even if you live in a very vulnerable situation and the climate changes that are happening. Then there are very high real estate, natural and cultural environment values ​​here that need to be protected.

More frequent and extreme floods are expected in Sweden in a changed climate. When damages occur more often, insurance companies will not offer protection for floods, the industry organization Swedish Insurance has warned. A house that cannot be insured is likely to drop in value.

“Here and now”

But even though it causes the municipality to build dikes, the risk of flooding is not a big worry for broker Staffan Strandh in Höllviken.

– I almost never get questions about it, he says.

– Those who buy houses “front row” by the sea can think about where the protective embankment should go, if it will be on the plot, but not if they can live there because it could flood. People don’t go thinking that everything is going to hell, but live here and now.

When Strandh sold a villa in Ljunghusen for 55 million, it became a price record in Skåne for 2021. He doesn’t think he will have to use proximity to the sea as a selling point in the future.

– People are drawn to the sea, it has always been attractive. You have to adapt, and that is what Vellinge municipality is doing with the protective wall. It’s super duper.

Not worried

The industry warns that it may become difficult to insure certain properties if floods become more common. Is it something that could affect you as a broker?

– If you can’t insure the houses, it will of course be very difficult. But I can’t see that it would be imminent, it’s nothing that worries me. The dikes can also save large values.

What is your responsibility as a broker when it comes to informing buyers about increased flood risk?

– People are already very well-read. If a villa costs 20 million, that’s a lot of money for everyone. It’s usually the biggest investment you make, so people have read up.

Is buying a 30 million beachfront villa still a good investment?

– Absolutely.

You see no risk that it would drop in value?

– No.

Outer protection

The three golf courses right next to the sea are popular meeting places for many on Näset.

– Here there will be a wall, says Lars Wahlström and points with his hand along the border where the golf course ends and the villa gardens take over. There runs an old seaweed embankment which was the former protection against the sea and which is now an ancient monument.

Wahlström is chairman of Falsterbo golf club, which together with the two other clubs appealed against the protection dike because the golf courses will largely end up outside and remain unprotected against the forces of the sea. They were not heard.

– We advocated an external protection (by the sea) in the first place and secondly to make it beautiful and build on the natural seaweed embankment that already exists, says Wahlström.

– Now there will be a wall roughly as high as the seawall. Basically the project is good, then it is clear that we want to defend our interests. This is a fantastic environment and an interesting destination. We don’t yet know exactly how the wall will affect us.

Fredrik Lundgren, chairman of Flommen’s golf club, would also like to see the dike built one step further out to sea to protect the courses.

– In 130 years, we have built something culturally unique here, so that was the point of view we had. Now it didn’t turn out that way. But it’s great that the municipality builds dikes that can stop temporary floods, he says.

“Berlin Wall”

A few house lengths from the golf course and away from the sea in Falsterbo lives Anki Musiolik, who is chairman of a road association that appealed against the protective dike. Their criticism has mainly been that the wall will close the area and make it more difficult to reach the promenade and the sea.

– Most of the people who live here basically think that it is good that the dikes are built, we have to protect ourselves and the property. Our objection is the design right here, she says.

– Aesthetically, I don’t care much for a wall, it would have been better to use the seawall. At first you could see the Berlin Wall in front of you, but it won’t really be that high.

FACT The dike

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