14 October, Italia Oggi
The website MutuiOnline.it reported that first-home buyers have grown by 59.8% in Q2 and by 68.6% in Q3. This is mainly due to the tax reliefs for young buyers under 36 years, which constitute 80% of the total purchases of first homes, generally for a price above the national average of 144,374 €.
Source: Italia Oggi
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
24 March, Italia Oggi
Due to the coronavirus emergency, residential transactions reported a decline everywhere in Italy. In Lombardy, transactions in the first two months of 2020 decreased by 7% compared to the same period of the previous and are expected to decline even further in March according to Scenari Immobiliari. However, there is still a steady demand for houses, and the market might rebound in the second part of the year. While waiting for the market to recoup, central banks decided to act on interest rates in order to sustain the economy, making mortgages more convenient than ever.
Source: Italia Oggi
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
08 January, Mutui Online
Nomisma reports that the residential market recorded an increase in prices for the first time in 10 years. In the second half of 2019, prices grew by +0.2%. The past year registered about 662,000 transactions, 92% of which concerning the residential segment.
Such a result was mainly due to the favourable mortgages, currently offering very low interest rates, although banks had become stricter in their selection requirements.
Source: Mutui Online
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
19 December, Idealista
Despite the declining trend of mortgage rates expected to end at the beginning of 2019, rates turned out being the most convenient ever. Due to the extension of the QE (Quantitative Easing) by the ECB, rates, in fact, reached an all-time low.
Concerning 2020, mortgage rates will likely remain low for most of the year. New mortgages are expected to reach 53-55 billion in total, registering a slight increase from the current year. Meanwhile, households will have easier access to credit thanks to the improvement of the economy on the overall and the good funding conditions. The ECB monetary policy doesn’t prefigure any radical change in the short- and medium-term.
Source: Idealista
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
13 December, Wall Street Italia
2007: residential loans register a slowdown due to the subprime mortgage crisis, resulting in a reduction of property transactions (-4.6%) and property prices (-1.0%).
2008-2009: the credit crunch continues; prices and transactions reduce further due to the increased offer on the market.
2010: transactions stabilise thanks to the State support to credit and the increased demand from households.
2011: the economic crisis begins; prices and transactions continue their decline.
2012: the market registers an all-time low with prices falling by 10.2% and transactions by 25.8%.
2013: transactions plummet to 403,124 in a year, price decrease by 8.7%.
2014: the mortgage market restarts thanks to the introduction of the Quantitative Easing by the ECB.
2015: the demand for properties resumes growing.
2016: transactions rise by 18.9% with the support of the credit market.
2017: the market is out of the crisis.
2018: the positive trend of the real estate market continues. The year is expected to close with 580,000 transactions.
2019: the market is estimated to reach 600,000 transactions. The credit market trend is positive, despite a slight slowdown in the issuing of new mortgages.
Source: Wall Street Italia
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
27 November, Re Quadro
According to Nomisma, prices on the residential market are on the rise for the first time in 10 years. However, without an adequate impulse of the economy to get the country of its current state of stagnation, such positive trend might not last long. Prices registered a modest increase (+0.2%), mainly in those cities where the economic growth is the strongest such as, besides Milan, Bologna and Padova, whose markets have been growing consistently.
Mortgages are still the main driver of residential transactions. Despite the low interest rates, credit is not easily accessible because of the strict criteria applied by banks due to the weak income situation of many households due to the recession. As a result, mortgage-financed transactions have gone from 58.2% in 2018 to 51.8% in 2019.
Rents represent 50% of the demand for houses, showing an increasingly flexible population. Short-term rentals have gone from 11% to 18% over the last year. Such a trend might be detrimental for long-term lets, which have seen the rent prices going up, especially in cities like Venice, Bologna and Florence where short-term rentals make 20% of the market.
Source: Re Quadro
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
21 August, Il Sole 24 Ore
Property transactions grew by 6.6% in 2018, confirming the positive trend started in 2018. However, prices reported a -0.6% decline, despite a slight increase in prices of new construction. Non-residential properties also closed 2018 with positive results: +0.6% for the production sector, +5.1% for the commercial one. After a phase of decline in 2017, mortgages resumed growing in 2018 with the growth of new applications.
Source: Il Sole 24 Ore
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
11 August, La Nazione
After the growth reported in 2018, Florence property market has slowed down. According to the Revenue Agency, property transactions in the first quarter of 2019 were 1,159 in Florence (-5.2% from the same period of 2018). Mortgages applications decreased by 8.8% from last year, while the average amount requested is higher than in the rest of Tuscany, around 149 thousand euro.
Source: La Nazione
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
21 July, Il Sole 24 Ore
Banca Intesa started offering loans to those buyers with no or limited starting funds to buy a house, targeting people aged below 35. Starting from May, the bank had decided to extend the offer to everybody, regardless of age, proposing mortgages for up to 100% the house value.
Source: Il Sole 24 Ore
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
17 June, Q&N Economia e Lavoro
According to the portal, in the first five months of 2019, mortgages to buy the main residence represented 53.4% of the total, while subrogations decreased by 20%. 89% of the applicants opted for a fixed-rate mortgage. The average loaned amount was 127,406 euro, registering a consistent growth since 2015.
Source: Q&N Economia e Lavoro
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi
Portugal 
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