In 2015, Italy's financial wealth grew by 2,2%, reaching 4.117 billion euros, thanks to the positive trend that shares, bonds, policies and funds have had on the markets.
But the surprise is the recovery, after dark years, of real estate wealth, which finally shows tangible signs of recovery witnessed by the increase in the housing stock and the stabilization of prices which took place in the second half of 2015. “In real terms, real estate prices they reached a maximum value at the end of 2007, and then decreased by about a quarter, stabilizing since the beginning of last year at levels close to those of 2001”, observes Bankitalia.
Household wealth also rose, rising by 1,2% last year, supported by the financial component and partly by the real estate component.
Going into detail, in per capita terms, the figure returned to the levels of 2007, reaching 70 euros, on a par with Germany and slightly less than France (75 euros).
Surprisingly, however, according to Eurostat statistics reported in the Bank of Italy's annual report, the greater wealth was not fueled, as per tradition, by a greater propensity to save, but by a revaluation of assets. Conversely, the propensity to save remained stable at 7,8%, below the euro area average.
The data relating to consumption is also positive: “The expansion of private consumption which began in mid-2013 – writes Bank of Italy – continued last year and extended to all the main expenditure items. For the first time since 2008, the purchasing power of households has returned to growth, which has benefited from the improvement in labor market conditions and the tax measures to support income introduced by the Government in 2014 and subsequently made permanent”
