The Italian residential real estate market continues to grow. According to the latest data released by the real estate watchdog arm of the Agenzia delle Entrate, the Italian tax authority, a total of 153,693 property transactions were closed in the second quarter of 2018, 5.6% more than in the same period of 2017.
This positive trend has been present in the sector since 2014, with the market seeming to have almost fully absorbed the losses of the crash in 2012. Growth is more marked in the smaller municipalities (+5.9%, compared with 5.1% in the provincial capitals). The north of Italy stands out both in terms of volume (almost 55% of total sales are concentrated in these areas of Italy) and performance (+7% compared to 3.3% in the Centre-South).
The surface area of sold properties also reflects the trend in sales and purchases. In the North West, the growth rate was exactly the same (+5.7%), while in the macro areas the area rate was slightly higher.
Transactions in the eight biggest cities
Focussing on Italy’s eight main cities, there is growth of 2.5% more than in the previous quarter, less than half of the average national figure and that of the provincial capitals. Rome is in negative territory (-0.8%), despite being the city with the largest number of transactions. On the other hand, the best performances were registered by Florence and Genoa, which grew by 4.7%, Milan and Palermo (+4.4%) and Turin (+4%). There were also increases in Bologna (+2.8%) and Naples (+2.7%).
In terms of surface area bought and sold, with the average rate for the eight municipalities is -2.4%, which is substantially similar to the rate of the number of transactions. All in all, the average surface area of the houses bought and sold in the eight main cities is stable. There are differences in the specific data for cities, such as Florence, Milan, Palermo and Rome.
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