“September, let's go. It's time to migrate”, if for Gabriele D'Annunzio it was the shepherds who drove the flocks from the mountain pastures to the plains after the summer, in the Italian university cities it is the students.
The new academic year is about to begin and many have already returned to their old or new accommodations. Based on the latest data from the Miur National Student Registry, in 2016/2017 off-site students numbered more than 400 throughout Italy. A real exodus which, according to the analysis conducted by the Centro Studi di Abitare Co. – a company active in the field of real estate brokerage since 1997 - contributes to giving a boost to the real estate market especially in the neighborhoods closest to the faculties of the main Italian metropolitan cities and small university towns.
During the first semester of 2018, in the districts closest to the main Italian universities, the demand for the purchase of a home increased by a good 5,2% on 2017 compared to that recorded in the other more peripheral areas which amounted to +4,6%. Those who choose to invest in a property in a university city do so for two main reasons: either they are parents who, having the economic means, prefer to buy a house for their children and, having to take out a loan, invest the money otherwise destined for 'rent on the mortgage or they are people who simply decide to invest in a property and then be able to count on a large pool of potential tenants and on a higher income.
At the same time, in September 2018, compared to the same period of the previous year, in the university areas the average selling price of a used house in good condition is 2.400 euros per m2,2 and grows by +1,3% against +1.400, 5.100% of the other neighborhoods – with variable prices ranging from XNUMX euros per square meter in Ferrara up to a top value of XNUMX in Rome in the Nomentano neighborhood, near the La Sapienza university.
It also increases the demand for rental housing by +4,3% (in the other areas it is +3,7%), while the average prices for a two-room apartment, which amount to around €800 per month, have grown compared to last year by +5,8%, against an average increase recorded in the other districts of +4,6%.
Looking at the details of the cities, it can be seen that the report shows that the most expensive - limited to the university districts - is Rome. The houses of the capital appear on the real estate market with an average price of €4.100 per sq m - up 1,8% on 2017: Tor Vergata is the cheapest neighborhood (2.800 per sq m), while prices rise sharply in the Nomentano areas (5.100 sq m), Flaminio (4.800), San Lorenzo (4.200) and Garbatella (3.800).
Surprising fact is what sees Milan in second position where the average price of housing in the university area is equal to €3.700 per sq m-, with prices ranging from €2.200 in the Bovisa area to €6.700 in the very central Sant'Ambrogio. For the Bocconi district €3.300 is needed, while in Bicocca the average price is around €2.300.
Florence is in third place, with an average value of €2.650 per sq m (+2,2%): for those who decide to buy in the Gavinana district, the price of €2.300 is certainly cheaper than in the Rifredi districts (€2.700 ) and Campo di Marte (€2.900).
Among the small university cities, on the other hand, Pisa is seen to be the most expensive city on average, with 2.800 euros per square meter (+2,7%), followed by Padua (2.400), Urbino (1.900) and Trieste (1.800). The cheapest of all is Ferrara (1.400).
At national level, according to Istat data relating to the first quarter of 2018, real estate sales amounted to 176.687, a modest growth of 0,6% compared to the previous three months but a very clear increase of 4,2% over the same period of 2017.
Compared to the first quarter of 2017, the increase recorded in the first three months of 2018 concerns all areas of the country for the housing sector: Islands (+10,9%), South (+6,9%), Center (+4,2, 3,9%), North East (+2,1%) and North West (+5,9%). The economic sector is growing in the Center (+3,4%), in the South (+2,9%), in the Islands (+0,8%) and in the North East (+0,2%); the North West is an exception, with a slight decrease of -3,5%. An increase on an annual basis is also observed both in the metropolitan cities and in the small towns: where for the housing we speak of +5,2% and +3,4%, while for the economy of +1,2% and + XNUMX%.
