When it comes to property buying trends in Italy in 2020 and 2021, an analysis by the Tecnocasa Group's Studies Office has studied house sales made through its affiliated agencies, focusing on the percentage of sales of main residences, holiday homes and investment properties in Italy. If you're planning on moving to or buying property in Italy, then this study will be a good start to your market research, having highlighted the different distribution of property purchases in 13 regions of Italy.
Main residence purchases in Italy
With regard to purchases made where the property is destined to be a main residence, the regions with the highest percentages are Lombardy (85.1%), Emilia Romagna (84%), Tuscany (81.4%) and Piedmont (81.1%). However, in all 13 regions that have been studied, main residences are the most prevalent and never fall below 68.5% of total sales. This confirms that the purchase of a main residence where the buyers plan to live for the majority of the time is the top reason for buying residential properties in Italy.
Investment properties in Italy
Turning to property purchases for investment reasons in Italy, the regions with the highest percentages of purchases for this reason are Sicily (26.4%) and Campania (25.6%). Cities such as Palermo and Naples, where around a third of the purchases are for investment purposes, often in the sense of buying properties to be converted into B&B's and rooms to let, also have an impact on these figures.
Holiday home purchases in Italy
Looking at holiday home purchases in Italy, the highest percentage is recorded in Liguria, making up 17.7% of total sales in the region. This is followed by Sardinia (9.9%), Apulia (9.2%) and Calabria (8.1%). A holiday home in Italy generally refers to a second home on the coast, close to one of Italy's lakes or in the mountains, but as can be seen from the data, it is the beach properties that take centre stage and are the most popular for those buying a holiday home in Italy. At the top of the ranking, we find regions where some of Italy's best-known seaside resortsare located.
- The percentage of purchases of main residences (turquoise), holiday homes (light grey) and investment properties (dark grey) in Italy
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