House prices are falling throughout Italy. Almost. In some cities of the North East there is a singular countertrend. In the first quarter of 2013, real estate prices in Vicenza underwent a 3% increase, while in Verona the increase was as much as 4%. But it is "an anomaly due more to the lack of realism of the owners than to the return of interest in demand after last year's price cuts". This is what emerges from the latest survey by the idealista.it real estate portal, which monitored the price trend of 50 capital cities on an offer of 47.315 second-hand properties.
In the meantime, however, the most widespread reality is that of plummeting real estate prices. This is what happens in 70% of Italian cities. Also in the first quarter of the year, Florence won the black jersey among the large centres, recording peak prices of 4,4%.
“In a gloomy picture for most of the centers monitored, 35 out of 50 are in negative territory, many of which recorded a downward acceleration during the first three months of the year, we can see some timid glimmers of light at starting with the large markets in the north, where prices are substantially stable compared to the latest declines in recent quarters”, warns idealista.it.
On the other hand, the drop in prices is slowed down in Turin (1,1%) and Milan (0,5%), the latter by far the most stable market among those monitored, while Rome (-1,1%) and above all Naples (-2,2%) which accelerates the race to the bottom between the main Italian capitals Florence and Venice are more affected by the drop in prices, in these cities the owners have had to lower them respectively by 4,4% and 4%, followed by from Palermo (-2,9%), Genoa (-2,2%), Bari (-1,9%) and Catania (-1,5%). Stable Bologna (0,4%).
In the rest of Italy, Taranto's -9% stands out, which adds up to last year's double-digit declines. Life is tough even for those who sell in this period in Perugia (-6%), while Rovigo (-5,5%) and Bergamo (-5%) are the municipalities most sensitive to the slowdown in demand in the North, with drops above the threshold by 5%.
