Property market at two speeds. Property prices continued falling in 2018

30 January, La Stampa

Some parts are going at full speed while others are stuck, if not receding. The latest report on the Italian property market shows the two sides of the market. In some areas, prices have consolidated and even resumed growing (mostly in the requalified neighbourhoods in northern Italy’s main cities). Meanwhile, prices continue dropping in the rest of the country. The portal Immobiliare.it analysed the price trend at the end of 2018. The analysis shows that “December closed with a 0.8% decrease in most of the country compared to the same period of last year, while cities with over 250 thousand people saw prices grow by 0.4% against a loss in value of more than 1% in the smallest towns. The gap between large and small towns is not the only characteristic of the Italian property market. The recovery took place only in the north of the country, with prices remaining stable (-0.1% on a yearly basis). The trend is negative in the south and the centre, with prices respectively dropped by 1.5% and 1.4% in a year. There is also a signal that must not be underestimated: in Milan and Rome, where a large part of the transactions concentrate, the number of lease contracts has surpassed that of transactions. This indicates the saturation of the property market and the preference of young people for renting.

Genoa, negative record

The reasons for the two speeds have been established: values drop where there is a surplus of supply against the demand that concentrates only in the most economically and socially appealing cities. Liguria is one of the regions that is struggling the most, with Genoa among the worst performing cities. According to the report by Immobiliare.it, the only city in the region reporting a positive trend was Imperia (+2.6% in the second half of the year), while Savona was the worst (-2.6%). La Spezia and Genoa also registered negative results (respectively -1.3% and -1%). Genoa does better with rentals, where it reported a 1% growth on a biannual basis, while the gap with the other provinces has reduced with an average price of 7.73 euro/Sq m. La Spezia is the most expensive cities concerning rents.

Mixed results for Piedmont

Piedmont shows a varied situation, as the provinces follow different trends while prices in Turin are still moderately falling. Biella is the only city to report a positive trend (+2.2% in the second part of 2018), while Asti and Vercelli are at the bottom of the chart, having decreased by over 3%. Turin loses 1.8% on a biannual basis, and it continued also dropping in the last quarter of 2018, as the suburbs have impacted the overall result for the city. On average, Verbania is the most expensive, with prices per square metre higher than the regional average (1,940 euro/Sq m). Compared to the average regional prices, a property in Biella costs about a half, with average prices of 791 euro/Sq m, confirming to be the cheapest city in the region. Concerning rentals, Biella and Verbania are at the extremes with respectively 5.49 and 8.64 euro/Sq m. Some cities showed signs of recovery such as Cuneo (+5.5%) and Alessandria (+4.1%), as well as Asti and Verbania with 2.5%. In Turin, a 60 Sq m one-bedroom apartment costs on average 468 euro a month.

Source: La Stampa

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi

Email

Linkedin

Twitter

Google