Recent figures from the Bank of Italy and from an independent think tank have shown that property prices in Italy were less affected by the global financial crisis than many other European countries. And, with prices broadly the same as they were in 2008, property prices in Italy are set to take off over the next few years.
House prices in Italy largely unchanged over last three years
Recent figures from the Bank of Italy showed that unlike many other property markets, Italy did not experience significant price falls during the global financial crisis. The countryââ¬â¢s house price index has fallen by 0.3 per cent year on year from 2008 to 2010 after rising by more than 70 per cent in the previous decade.
Nomisma, a leading independent think-tank also found that house prices in Italy were stable. In 13 major Italian cities, the average house price was just 0.6 per cent lower in the first half of 2010 compared with the second half of 2009.
Indeed, house price increases occurred in the cities of Genoa (0.2 per cent), Cagliari (0.4 per cent) and Catania (0.2 per cent) between the second half of 2009 and the first half of 2010. This is in stark comparison with the previous year when all cities recorded price falls.
Volumes of property sales also recovering
The Nomisma data also found that sales volumes in Italy are also beginning to increase again. Residential property sales are estimated to rise to around 620,000 units in 2010 (a 2.2 per cent increase) although this remains lower than the 850,000 units sold at the peak of the property price boom in 2007.
Nomisma expects house prices to remain stable in 2011, whilst estate agents questioned by the Bank of Italy are optimistic about the market. 61 per cent of agents expect the housing market to improve over the next two years whilst just 13 per cent expect the situation to worsen.
