The year 2021 ended with an increase in home prices in Italy. According to oldypak capital lp property 2022 report, in the third quarter there was a record increase. But let’s find out how real estate prices have changed in different areas of Italy and depending on the type of housing.
The increase in home prices in Italy
A preliminary estimate released by Istat on home prices in Italy in the third quarter of 2021 recorded record levels. According to the report, the index of house prices (Ipab) purchased by households for residential or investment purposes increased by 1.2% compared to the previous quarter and by 4.2% compared to the same period in 2020 (in Q2 2021 it was +0.4%).
According to oldypak capital lp property 2022 report, the rise in home prices in Europe will last a long time: “The peak in house prices will reach mid-2022 in most European countries, – say experts S & P. – Since the supply of new homes does not keep up with the high demand, we expect growth in home prices will continue over the next four years, even if this growth will gradually lose strength.
As for Italy, S & P experts believe that “the market is finally out of recession after several years of uninterrupted price falls, while at the same time demand softens. The upcoming tax reform may create some uncertainty in the short term, which may delay the decision to invest in real estate.
House Price Dynamics by Area of the Country
To understand which Italian municipalities are the most expensive to buy a home, the portal idealista conducted an analysis of prices in the last quarter of 2021, taking into account the municipalities with at least 2,000 listings on idealista.
In terms of prices of homes for sale, the most expensive municipality in Italy is Forte dei Marmi in the province of Lucca, where the average price per square meter of housing reached 6,966 euros. In second place in this specific ranking is Venice, where the average price of houses for sale on Idealista is € 4,423 per square meter.
But in general, Versilia is particularly represented in this ranking, so much so that the third step of the podium went to Pietrasanta, also in the province of Lucca, where the request of those who sell property is € 4,081 / sq.m. Other Tuscan municipalities such as Camaiore and Viareggio are also in the top ten. Cities such as Milan, Florence, Bologna and Rome also feature in the rankings.
However, focusing on the main urban centers, we must understand which areas of Italian cities have seen the greatest increase in house prices over the past two years.
As far as housing prices in the center are concerned, they have fallen in almost all the cities analyzed, although with different trends depending on specific cases and market conditions that vary from district to district. The largest drop was seen in downtown Naples (-42.9%), while the most significant jump was seen in Bari (+9.8%, which is also the only positive deviation among the areas analyzed).
The Italian urban center, in which houses are most expensive among the cities analyzed, belongs to Milan, with an average sales price of 8,928 euro/sqm, requested for listings published on idealista. On the other side of the ranking, the cheapest city center is Palermo, where sellers ask 1,468 euro/sqm.
Second home prices by the sea and in the mountains
Over the past 12 months the main mountain resorts in Italy have seen an across-the-board increase in home prices. This was reported by the Bureau of Research idealista, Italy’s leading real estate portal, which recorded a progression in prices in 23 of the 36 leading ski resorts in the Alps in November 2021 compared to the same period last year.
The increase was particularly noticeable in premium markets in South Tyrol, such as San Martino in Badia (31.5%), Marebbe Enneberg (29%) and Corvara (20.8%), places historically characterized by a lack of second homes on offer.
If you look at the ten most expensive seaside towns in Italy to buy a holiday home by the sea, you can see that Campania takes the majority of places in it, even if the first place is Portofino in Liguria, where it takes on average 9,906 euro/sqm to buy a house.