You want larger spaces, gardens, terraces, places where you can spend time outdoors even if you are forced to stay indoors. The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted the real estate market, relaunching the demand for houses in the countryside, cottages and farmhouses. Properties located outside the city, in villages or small towns, where the quality of life is higher and the spaces less cramped. According to a study carried out by Idealista, the search for this type of housing would have increased by 29% compared to the pre-Covid period. Above all, the country houses located in the Brescia and Alessandria areas excel.
HOUSES IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
The supply of rustic properties has tripled in the province of Brescia, increasing by 268%, and in Alessandria, where there is a +241%. On the other hand, the requests doubled in the province of Asti (136%), Verona (129%), Viterbo (123%) and Brindisi (100 percent).
"In the other 28 provinces monitored - explains Idealista - only 9 register a cooling of the market, all the others mark increases from Florence (89%) to Matera where the interest of buyers has remained unchanged compared to the pre-Covid period".
Vincenzo De Tommaso of the Idealista Research Office underlines that “the increasingly massive use of smart working is pushing many people to rethink your post-lockdown housing needs, so rural properties have increased during the spring and summer. Small centers could be a valid alternative to ensure an environment with a high livability standard thanks to large and open spaces, at decidedly lower prices than large cities".
PRICES
As far as prices are concerned, the trend remains stable. In fact, compared to the pre-covid period, the variation would be only 0,1%, "but the provinces that show increases in values are more than those in decline", highlights the study. Plus sign in the province of Rome (25,4%), Pisa (20,1%) and Bologna (18,9%), with 14 other provinces enclosed between the rebounds of 8,7% in Asti and 0,1 % of Matera. The largest drops are instead marked by Pesaro-Urbino (-11,9%) and Rimini (-10,5%) in contrast with 13 other provinces in decline among those with the greatest supply of rustic properties.
LUXURY PROPERTY
No crisis even for luxury residential properties. According to Engel & Völkers, the market would have resisted the broadsides of the crisis caused by the coronavirus emergency, thanks above all to the increase in demand for properties with a habitable garden or terrace.
Record requests for luxury homes are reportedly being recorded both in large cities such as Rome and in holiday resorts such as Courmayeur, Bardolino and Castiglione della Pescaia. Among the buyers, there are many international ones who continue to want to invest in Italy for their second home.
RENTALS IN THE CITY: EMPTY HOUSES WITHOUT OFFSPRING
The Covid effect, on the other hand, is felt on the rents of rooms, beds and buildings traditionally used by non-residents. According to the Immobiliare.it research office, the offer would have registered a surge, with peaks reaching 290%. “Covid-19 – explains the report – had the side effect of emptying, from North to South, the rooms generally rented to students and off-site workers. In Italy, the availability of rooms compared to 2019 has in fact more than doubled (+149%)".
At the basis of this trend there would be smart working, south working and distance learning. "Students and workers who chose transitory housing solutions, such as those of a single room or a bed in a double room, in many cases preferred to temporarily abandon the cities, in favor of larger spaces and savings on rent", explains Carlo Giordano, managing director of Immobiliare.it.
As far as individual cities are concerned, Milan is the record city in terms of room availability🇧🇷290% on an annual basis, followed by Bologna (+270%). Offer almost tripled in Padua (+180%) and Florence (+175%) and doubled in Turin (108%), Rome (+130%) and Naples (+100%). Pisa is the city that records the smallest increase (+12%), however double-digit compared to 2019.
The increase in supply also had consequences on prices, which remained prices after the increases recorded in recent years. Looking at the variations in individual cities, it turns out that many even record negative fluctuations, such as Bologna and Palermo, where a single room costs 9% less than in 2019 or Siena, where those looking for a bed can count on an average 12%.
In numbers, Milan is confirmed as the most expensive city, with 565 euros per month for a single room, followed by Rome (438) Bologna and Florence (400 euros). Below the threshold of 400 euros are then Venice - where an average of 358 euros is asked for a single - Naples (338 euros for a single) and Turin (330 euros).
