Portugal 
Spain 
Greece 
Properties, transactions have grown by 5%
23 May, Il Sole 24 Ore
Transactions are increasing, and prices are still low, remaining very far for the pre-crisis levels, as pictured by the Residential Property Market Observatory for 2017 by the Revenue in collaboration with Abi that was presented yesterday.
Property transactions (about 542 thousand for a total value of 89.6 billion) increased by 4.9% in 2017, registering a growth for the fourth year in a row. However, the increase didn’t cause prices to rise. On the contrary, they fell further by 0.4%, with a reduction that started in 2012 and that also continued in 2017. The positive consequence is that it’s easier now to buy a house, as shown by the affordability index created by Abi. In fact, 52% of the young families not owning a property can now buy a property with a mortgage, the highest level ever reached since the survey was started in 2004.
It’s not by chance that the properties bought with a mortgage grew by 7.8% (about 260 thousand). The capitals issued in total reached 32.7 billion, approximately 3 billion more in comparison with 2016. In the north and the centre of the country, more than half of the purchases were made through mortgages, while in the south and the islands this percentage is lower. The average loan amounts to 126 thousand euro, nearly 71% of the property purchasing price. To sum up, the ideal house has a surface of little more than 105 Sq m and a value around 142 thousand euro. It takes three years to buy it and 106 days of salary, 18 days less than the previous year, over eight months less than 2010.
Considering the territory, the cities that reported the best performances were Milan, Palermo, Florence and Naples, while Bologna was the only one registering a negative trend. The market of accessory properties also reported good results (+12.4%), as well that of garages and parking spaces (+3.8%). Whereas rented properties slightly decreased (-0.8%).
Source: Il Sole 24 Ore
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi