Housing prices in Europe, grew on average by 11.5% between 2011 and 2018. However, Italy is lagging behind with a decline in property values of 17.6%.
The Italian real estate situation doesn't even improve in the short term. In 2018, compared to the previous year, the drop was 0.6%, the second most evident after Sweden (-0.9%). Together with the Scandinavian nation, Italy is the only one to register a negative change according to Eurostat data.
Italy is the 'black sheep' with regards to the classification of variations in property prices 2011-2018 (-17.6%), followed at a distance from other nations with negative sign, Croatia (-10, 3%), Spain (-10.1%), Cyprus (-7.8%). In the short term these countries are recovering (in 2018 compared to the previous year) with a growth of 6.1% for Croatia, 6.7% for Spain and 1.8% for Cyprus.
Focusing on the top of the ranking, the long-term performance of Iceland (+71.4%) stands out, followed by Estonia (+63.2%) and Latvia (+49.8%). With regards to the last variation (from 2017 to 2018), Iceland remains the protagonist (+8.2%), but surpassed by jumps in Ireland (10.2%) and Portugal (+10.3%). It is also worth noting the +9.5% in the Netherlands.
However, it is worthwhile looking at the comparison between the trend in house prices in Italy and the European average. In the period between 2011 and 2018, real estate values in the rest of the continent grew on average by 11.5%, while in Italy there was a decrease of 17.6%. However, the latest surveys show a reality in which prices in Europe rise by 4.7%, while in Italy the fall, albeit limited, to 0.6% (delay of 4.1 percentage points) continues.
The outlook doesn't seem encouraging, at least not according to the latest report published by Standard and Poor's, according to which Italy will be the only one among the 10 most important real estate markets in Europe where prices will fall both in 2019 (-0.9%) and in 2020 (-0.4%). Whereas, in other countries stocks seem destined to grow, albeit at a slower pace.
Among the most lively markets, the report states, are Portugal (+8% in 2019), the Netherlands (+6.5%), Spain (+5.5%) and Germany (+5.3%). According to the rating agency, the increase in house prices in Italy should reach 2021 (+ 0.3%) and 2022 (+ 1%).
