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More houses to sell (and price are rising)
07 March, Corriere della Sera
Construction activities are back. And more interestingly: after a ten years long recession, house sales have resumed. Plus, prices are slightly increasing. The Istat real estate market price index, Ipab, showed at the end of the third quarter of 2017 a price increase of 0.7% on a yearly basis, along with a decrease of old properties of 0.8%. In the first semester of 2017, the new properties registered in Italy were 23,721 for a total surface of over 2.2 million Sq m. The market grew by 12% in comparison with the same period of 2016. The trend is destined to consolidate since the number of construction permits has increased (55 thousand in 2017 according to Ance) and, considering that the process of obtaining the permit till the marketing of the newly-built property takes several months, we can expect new construction sites in addition to the properties already put for sale and the stock on unsold ones. New properties are not only newly-built properties in a new area but also the total renovation of a vacant and already existing building or of a building originally not for residential use.
According to Alessandro Ghisolfi, from the research centre of AbitareCo, “we estimate there are nowadays 3 thousand important interventions that generate a value of over 10 billion euro between planning, implementation and sale”. Let’s see the figures concerning the main Italian cities taken from the survey by AbitareCo on new construction initiatives.
City by city
In Milan, selling prices for the central areas range from a maximum of over 10 thousand euro/Sq m (penthouses reach 14 thousand) to a minimum of 6,500 euro/Sq m. In the semi-central areas, prices are comprised between 4,000 and 4,500 euro, with peaks of 9,000 euro. The wellbeing of the construction sectors is demonstrated by two facts: selling times never exceed 4 months, and the discounts granted are 7% against the 10% of old properties.
In Rome, about 40% of the offer is located in the old town or in prime residential areas of the semi-centre. In the most exclusive areas, prices are over 9 thousand euro/Sq m (13 thousand for penthouses), with minimum prices set at 6,500 euro, while for the semi-centre prices go from 4,500 euro to a maximum of 7 thousand. Selling times are longer than those of Milan and the discounts are lower. To sell a property, it generally takes from five to ten months and the discount is 9% for prime areas, while the figures are lower in the suburbs.
The offer is rather limited in Naples: on a total of 6 thousand properties for sales, only 200 are new constructions, mostly properties built in 2016. In addition, the city suffers from the obsolescence of the existing buildings. The few construction sites mostly concentrate in the Vomero area.
In Turin, nowadays 10% of the residential offer is represented by new construction, with average prices 22% more than those of old properties. Construction activities concentrate in the central areas with average selling prices set between 5,000 and 6,500 euro. In the central Via Roma, the projects concerning the total requalification of properties built in the last century can reach 9-10 thousand euro/Sq m.
In Bologna, new properties represent 13% of the total offer, with selling prices 15% more compared to old properties. Construction sites mainly concentrate in the south-western part of the city. 20% of the offer is located in the centre, where prices reach a maximum of 6 thousand euro.
Finally, in Florence, the offer for new properties is very little (4.3% of the total) and it’s represented mostly by big buildings being reconverted, such as the Cassa di Risparmio headquarters and the former military hospital.
Source: Corriere della Sera
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi