After several years of widespread growth, Italy’s rental market showed signs of slowing during the summer months. However, it remains lively in areas with high demand. idealista, Italy’s leading property portal for technology-driven real estate insights, has analysed rental trends across major cities, highlighting the most dynamic neighbourhoods and those with the highest rents.
Quarterly changes: Bari and Rome lead, Verona and Turin join the top 10
The neighbourhood with the sharpest rent increase in Q3 was Madonnella (Bari), up 22.7%. Lido di Ostia (Rome) followed with +15.7%, and Ponente (Genoa) rose by 11.3%.
Fourth place was shared by Arcella (Padua) and Borgo Venezia (Verona), both up 8.8%. Other top 10 areas included two more Genoa districts — Levante (+8.6%) and Ponente (+8.4%) — in sixth and seventh place, followed by Borgo San Paolo–Cenisia–Pozzo Strada (Turin) at +8.0%, and Tommaso Natale–Mondello–Arenella (Palermo) at +7.5%. Rounding out the top 10 was Nomentano–Tiburtino in Rome, up 7.2%.
Interestingly, Milan — Italy’s priciest city for rentals — did not make the top 10 for growth. It only appears at 41st place, with the Corvetto–Rogoredo district seeing a modest increase of 1.3%.
Price per square metre: Milan and Rome remain out of reach
Milan continues to dominate in terms of rental cost, with the Historic Centre averaging €34.3/m² — the highest in the country. Rome’s Historic Centre follows at €30.0/m², with Milan’s Garibaldi–Porta Venezia area in third at €26.5/m². Florence’s city centre (€26.2/m²) is the only non-Milanese neighbourhood in the top five.
The top 10 also includes three more Milan districts — Navigli–Bocconi (€25.4/m²), Fiera–De Angeli (€25.0/m²), and Porta Vittoria (€24.5/m²) — along with three areas of Rome: Prati (€24.6/m²), Nomentano–Tiburtino (€22.7/m²), and Parioli (€22.5/m²).
Market insights
Vincenzo de Tommaso, Head of idealista’s Research Office, explains:
"The leading rental markets, which saw rapid growth over the past five years, are now showing signs of slowing, as seen in Milan (-0.6%) and Bologna (-0.2%), with moderate increases in Rome (0.9%) and Naples (0.5%). Cities like Turin (1.4%) and Catania (2.9%) remain stable or slightly up, while Bari (9.7%) and Padua (4.5%) are still experiencing strong growth.
This trend reflects a longer-term shift. During the Covid-19 period, high mortgage rates discouraged buyers, boosting demand for rentals. Now, as interest rates fall, more people are buying property, rental supply is increasing, and growth is naturally slowing."
For the full picture on Italian cities you can view the full idealista rental report (in Italian).