(Visited 45 times, 1 visits today)
(Visited 45 times, 1 visits today)

Houses in Naples, one very four is bought by singles

21 December, Il Mattino

In Naples, about one flat every four is bought by singles: the trend has slightly decreased compared to the previous year, looking at the numbers of properties sold of Tecnocasa and Tecnorete in the first semester of 2017. The percentage of singles buying a property, in fact, has represented 22.6% of the market in the first half of 2017, while it was 33.2% in the second half of 2016. Comparing these results with the national average, Naples is aligned with the national trend. In Italy, in fact, the trend has gone from the 34.4% of the second semester of 2016 to the 28.7% of the first part of 2017. “This is not a significant variation – explains Davide Agretti, area manager for Tecnocasa – the contraction is following the trend on the whole real estate market. Despite the lower interest rates and a general drop of prices, in the last 9-10 years, we’ve registered a value loss of about 40% due mostly to the stricter policies on mortgages applied by banks. Considering the requirements, banks tend to not issue mortgages without the applicant paying upfront 20-30% of the amount”. The figures published by Tecnocasa regarding who, in the first part of 2017, has obtained a mortgage from the agencies of the group, shows that in Campania the average age of the applicant is around 42.7 years, with a percentage of 59.7% of people aged between 18 and 44 years. The average duration of mortgages is 23 years with a higher concentration (59.5%) of durations comprised between 21 and 30 years and nearly all the applicants (93.6%) chooses the fixed rate.

Concerning singles, it’s not surprising the most popular flats in Naples are two-room apartments (50%), followed by the three-room apartments (26.6%). These results differ from the national trend where the difference between the two typologies is minimal, with the two-room apartment preferred by the 36.6% and the three-room apartment by 35.7%. The data regarding the age of singles buying is also interesting: 26.4% of them is aged between 18 and 34 years, 22.5% is between 35 and 44 years, and 23.3% is between 45 and 54 years, with the percentage gradually decreasing as the age increases. The trend doesn’t differ from the national average. “Most of the buyers are professionals, with university degrees and coming from wealthy families – continues Agretti – they often buy a house because they have to move to a new city for work-and study-related reasons. The category of singles has started gaining quotas from the traditional categories of buyers represented by young couples and families”. Which is the preferred use? Do singles buy in order to be autonomous and independent or to invest? The data from Tecnocasa show a predominance of the first hypothesis: 69% of the sales concerns, in fact, the purchase of the main house, while 30.2% is for investment and 0.8% is for a holiday house. “This phenomenon is connected with the social changes – clarifies Sergio Mauro, associated with the group – most of the buyers are males, often coming from a separation or a divorce. A two-room apartment is almost an obvious choice since it’s a more manageable solution for just one income”.

The situation pictured by the real estate group considers also the rental market. In Naples, 62.2% of the single tenants rent as their main residence, while 27% rent for work-related reasons and 10.8% for studies-related reasons. This differentiates Naples from the other Italian cities. Where 43% chooses to rent for work-related reasons and only 5.6% does so for studies-related reasons. “Comparing these numbers, it emerges the vocation of Naples as university city – stresses Mauro – and at the same time, the lesser mobility of professionals. This means that is less frequent to move to Naples to work while a good part of requests comes from students”. University students play a relevant role in the rentals market: the old town, where most of the demand from students concentrates, has registered a further increase in the first part of 2017 in the demand from investors. Among these, there are those who buy to rent the property, mostly to students but also hospital workers, with freely negotiated tenancy and temporary tenancy. Singles or not, the property market of Naples is doing well: in the first half of the year, in fact, the number of transactions has increased, reaching 3,740 transactions with a growth of 9.5% compared to the same period of last year.

Source: Il Mattino

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi