Homes, rent rises (+6%). House prices are also growing

Homes, rent rises (+6%). House prices are also growing (+2.6%)

Despite the difficult economic situation characterized by constant increases in interest rates and growing inflation, house prices in 2023 showed no sign of decreasing, indeed they are still rising, thus confirming the slower dynamics of the cycles of the brick that brings those who sell home to wait for better times rather than immediately lowering earnings expectations.

In fact, according to what was found by Immobiliare.it Insightsa group company of Immobiliare.itthe leading real estate portal in Italy, specializing in big data and market intelligence for the real estate sector, in December 2023 the average price per square meter in Italy stood at 2,151 euros, up 2.6% compared to a year ago, even if the last quarter showed a slowdown in the upward curve (+0.2%).

To the Centeralways the most expensive macrozone, prices remained substantially stable (2,430 euros/m2) while they grew considerably in the North East+5.3% (2,172 euros/m2), and in Northwest.

Bologna surpasses Rome

The regional capital that performed best in terms of price in the past year was Trieste (2,079 euros/m2), with a growth of almost 8%. However, the most expensive one remains Milanat 5,289 euros/m2, followed by Florence which breaks through the threshold of 4,000 euros/m2, up by 3.4%. Bologna confirms the overtaking of Rome: 3,380 euros/m2 vs. 3,331 euro/m2, justified by the fact that, while prices in the capital remained essentially unchanged, in Bologna they grew by 5.7%. However, all the capitals show a positive trend, with the exception of Turin which loses 0.3% in the 12 months, settling at 1,887 euros/m2.

Although in general the demand for houses has decreased compared to 12 months ago (-3.8%), with the sole exception of South Italy (+2.5%), homes have successfully exited the marketin fact the offer contracted by almost 12 percentage points compared to December 2022, with reductions of the order of 20% per South and in Islands. However, the last quarter shows a decisive trend reversal regarding the stock of properties available on the market, which shows important accumulations throughout the national territoryparticularly in the South and on the Islands.

Large cities (those with more than 250,000 inhabitants) achieved better results than small towns: their price per square meter in fact grew by 4% in the 12 months, reaching 3,279 euros, while the smaller cities stopped at +2.1% (1,796 euros/m2). However, the less populous towns are those that guarantee greater accessibility to purchasingwith over 26% of the market on offer that a single person with an average income would be able to afford, while in large urban centers the same percentage stops at 11.6%.

«Although in 2023, after the exceptional years of the immediate post-Covid period, transactions decreased as expected, house prices have held up, and in most cases have actually increased, a sign that owners are resisting in the evaluations of their properties – he comments Antonio Intini, Chief Business Development Officer of Immobiliare.it – This has made large cities in general, but also smaller centres, even less accessible to those with limited economic availability, I am thinking of young workers, as demonstrated by our affordability index, down by 6 percentage points in cities with more of 250,000 inhabitants and even over 8 pp in those with less than 250,000 inhabitants”.

What happened in the rental market

Cost performance is even better when you look at rent, where rents grew by 6.3% in one yearreaching at the end of 2023 about 12.4 euros per square meter on average. In this case it is the northwest the most expensive macrozone (13.4 euros/m2) and also the one that grew the most in the 12 months (+8.8%). Good too Islands which compared to last year earned 6.8%. The North East marks a +6.1% while the South a +5.1%. The Centerthe least performing area, still shows an increase of the order of 3%.

Demand for rentals has seen significant growth compared to 12 months agoequal to +21.8%, with the Center even recording +48.6%. On the other hand, the offer also grew, +2.1%, since the North of the country shows significant increases in the solutions offered for rent on the market: +14.1% in northwest and +18.9% in North East. The last three months, however, have seen the situation completely reversed, with demand plummeting by 7.4% – probably due to the increase in prices which affected all the main cities – and the stock falling to -4, 3%.

AND Catanzaro the regional capital which experienced the most significant growth in rents in the 12 months: +25.8%, reaching almost 8 euros/m2. Good too Florence which is close to 20 euros/m2 with a growth of over 22%. However, Milan remains the most expensive with its 22.3 euros/m2 (with a growth of 10% over the year). It is always the large cities (more than 250,000 inhabitants) that show the most significant price growth: +11.1% compared to +7% in small towns. To rent a house in a large center in December 2023, 16.4 euros/m2 were needed while in a small town 9.7 euros/m2 were sufficient.

«As expected, given the increasingly less accessible prices of the properties offered for sale, more and more people have turned to the rental market, which has seen the stock, already depleted by tourist rentals and short-term rentals, drastically reduced in the face of truly high – continues Intini – This has led to a significant increase in prices, especially in cities that offer more job opportunities and where competition for housing is greater, and the last months of 2023 show how the demand for rental homes is also starting to contract”.

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