Housing prices in Italy fell 0.7% in August 2018

Average prices of second-hand homes in Italy fell by 0.7% month-on-month in August, to an average of 1,780 euro per square metre, according to the idealista housing price index.

This decline is slightly lower than the 1.1% drop recorded in August 2017, while the year-on-year decline is 2.2 percentage points, much lower than last year.

Regions

The main drops in the index were recorded in Lazio (-1.7%), Friuli-Venezia Giulia (-1.6%) and Abruzzo (-1.4). The downward trend extends to 13 other regional markets ranging from -1.3% in Campania, Trentino-Alto Adigeto and Veneto and -0.1% in Tuscany. The regions of Valle d'Aosta (2%), Molise (1.8%), Marche (0.8%) and Basilicata (0.5%) are the only ones not affected by the fall in sales at the end of the summer.

In terms of nominal values, Liguria is confirmed as the most expensive region, with property prices of 2,531 euro per square metre or 235 euro per square foot on average, followed by Valle d'Aosta (2,451 euro/m2 or 228 euro/sq ft) and Trentino-Alto Adige (2,366 euro/m2 or 220 euro/sq ft). At the bottom of the ranking are Calabria (898 euro/m2 or 83 euro/sq ft), Molise (1,044 euro/m2 or 97 euro/sq ft) and Sicily (1,114 euro/m2 or 103 euro/sq ft).

Provinces

The situation in the provinces is defined with a clear prevalence of negative signs detected in 70 of the 108 areas monitored. The largest decreases were recorded in the southernmost province of Sardinia, Carbonia-Iglesias (-5.6%), followed by Nuoro (-4.5%) and Agrigento (3.6%). On the other side, the main rises are in Ascoli Piceno (2.8%), Macerata (2.4%) and Arezzo (2.2%).

The ranking of the most expensive provinces is headed by Savona (3,377 euro/m2 or 314 euro/sq ft), which precedes Bolzano (3,156 euro/m2 or 293 euro/sq ft) and Florence (2,646 euro/m2 or 246 euro/sq ft), which for the first time surpasses Imperia at the top of the ranking of real estate values. At the bottom of the ranking are 17 macro areas with values that don’t even exceed a thousand euro per square metre, from Taranto (988 euro/m2 or 92 euro/sq ft) to Biella, with just 643 euro per square metre or 60 euro per square foot.

Large cities and capitals

Looking at the data on cities, there is a slight majority of capitals on the negative side (53) compared to those where prices have shown a positive trend (51).

With a decrease of 4.5%, Campobasso is the city that recorded the worst data in August, accompanied by Belluno (-3.8%) and Vercelli (-3.2%). The cities that marked recovery in the period analysed were Arezzo (3.6%), Pordenone (3.4%) and Oristano (3.1%).

Variations have been observed in the values of the large urban centres, where the decline of Rome (-0.9%) contrasts with the recovery of Naples (0.8%). Milan consolidates its positive trend with a recovery of 0.3%; Bologna, Bari, Florence, Turin and Palermo are all more or less stable.

In the price ranking, Venice (4,408 euro/m2 or 410 euro/sq ft) is the most expensive city, ahead of Florence (3,579 euro/m2 or 332 euro/sq ft) and Bolzano (3,418 euro/m2 or 318 euro/sq ft). The last city in the list drawn up by idealista is Biella, with an average price of just 716 euro per square metre, which is 66 euro/sq ft, behind Caltanissetta (720 euro/m2 or 67 euro/sq ft) and Agrigento (851 euro/m2 or 79 euro/sq ft).