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Brescia: +5% for property transactions but prices are unchanged
26 October, Corriere della Sera
Prices and transactions are strictly connected. The formers have been decreasing since 2016, and now they’ve stabilised, while sales have resumed growing. In the first half of the year, transactions have increased in the city (+5%) as well as in the province (+6%). The figures are taken from the latest Tecnocasa report. Having a widespread network in the Brescia territories, Tecnocasa is able to offer a clear picture of the local market trends.
Despite the wide range of ten, twenty, and even fifty years old properties on offer, buyers prefer new construction. It’s true that they’re more expensive, but they require less investing in systems, thermic insulation and fixtures. Not only, “banks are more likely to grant a mortgage for new properties”, as Lorenzo Biemmi from Tecnocasa explains. Marco Lucchetta (Kiron Partner) notes that 2018 “registered volumes of loans never recorded before”. Perhaps, this means that “we have more debts than ever before” but, at the same time, the growth of mortgages can be interpreted as “an increased trust in the future”, as Lucchetta believes. Five years ago, families would pay on average 780 euro a month, and now they pay 600 euro. The lower costs also help to reduce the income requirements necessary to access a mortgage loan. The requested income has gone from 2,600 euro in 2013 to 1,999 euro this year. “It used to take two salaries before. Now just one is enough”.
Hence, the market is changing. Property prices in Brescia are far from those of provincial capitals such as Bologna (+11,4%) and Milan (+7.5%), which have been growing for the last two years. Claudio Dancelli comments that “Milan always anticipates the future trends”. It means that in the future also Brescia and other provincial capitals might follow the same growth trend. Prices in Brescia have decreased in the last few years, but this resulted in an increased interest from buyers. Now prices are slowly catching up. If it’s true that the recession reduced by up to 28% of the values of the properties in Brescia since 2008, it’s also true that the spike in prices in the period immediately before the crisis was subject to financial speculation that bet on the infinite growth of the real estate market. That would have meant the expansions of the market with no rules through subprime mortgages granted to anybody, as it happened in the US, to foster the financial market. Today, Brescia is witnessing at a consolidation of prices.
On the other hand, rents are growing, as landlords want to make up for the investments made to renovate old houses. Rentals of warehouses are rising again, while those scattered around the province are dropping. The demand favours two-bedroom apartments, regardless if it’s to rend or to buy.
Concerning transactions, money savers don’t get into debt for more than 119 thousand euro. This is the maximum budget for 44% of those are moving in Brescia. Three mortgages every four are signed by Italians, with the new entry of foreigners, thanks to guarantee funds and mortgage loans for 100% of the amount.
Source: Corriere della Sera
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi