The decline in property sales slowed down in the third quarter of 2013. According to Istat, in fact, the figure experienced a drop of 4,8% on an annual basis after the -6,5% recorded in the second quarter. In the period considered, 93,4% of the agreements (120.120) concerned properties for residential use and accessories, 5,9% property units for economic use (7.606) and 0,7% the sale of properties for special use and timeshares ( 832).
Furthermore, for the first time since the beginning of the year, an Italian macro-region (the North-East) recorded a positive trend both for the purchase and sale agreements for residential use and accessories (+0,8%), and for those of the real estate sector considered as a whole (+0,4%).
As far as the residential area alone is concerned, all the other divisions recorded negative variations higher than the national average (-4,6%) particularly accentuated in the Islands (-8,6%) and in the Center (-6,0%). Sales agreements for economic use show smaller negative trend variations than the national average (-5,7%) in the North-West (-2,2%) and in the North-East (-3,5%), much higher than the average in the Center (-11,4%) and in the Islands (-10,4%).
Still according to the data released by Istat, in the first 9 months of the year the signing of agreements for the sale of real estate units amounted to 424.343 units, showing an attenuation of the decline in agreements drawn up, -7,3% on a base yearly, against the -21,4% recorded in 2012.
Compared to small cities, the Notary Archives of the metropolitan cities have suffered slighter annual declines: -3,9% in the housing sector (-5,1% in the Archives based in other cities) and -4,0% in the economic sector (-6,7% in small towns).
Mortgages, loans and other bonds with the constitution of real estate mortgages experienced a drop of 1,5% on an annual basis in the third quarter, the synthesis of a recovery in the North-East (+1,3%) and in the Center ( +0,9%), which fails, however, to fully offset the negative trend in the Islands (-10,9%) and in the South (-5,9%).
