Real-estate market down 9.2% in 2013, below 1985 levels
Home prices plunge 10.7%
10 March, 14:12
(ANSA) - Rome, March 10 - The residential real-estate market
in Italy plunged 9.2% in 2013 on the previous year, below levels
recorded in 1985, according to data released on Monday by the
real-estate observatory of the Italian revenue agency.The observatory said 403,000 sales were recorded last year and real-estate prices dropped 10.7% to 66.8 billion euros.
Overall, sales in all categories of real property dropped 8.9% in 2013, down by almost 88,000 sales on 2012, which had registered a record 24.8% decrease.
However, data showed that sales slightly picked up in the last quarter, which registered a less significant 7.5% drop.
Among different categories, residential property sales recorded a 9.2% decrease, commercial properties a 7.3% drop and industrial properties a 7.7% decrease.
The credit crunch in 2013, one of the worst years for businesses in Italy since the 2008 global financial crisis, led to a 7.7% drop in residential property bought with a mortgage.
Mortgages were worth 17.5 billion euros last year, down 10.6% from 2012.
Italy's longest postwar recession officially ended with flat growth in the third quarter of last year and a 0.1% rise in the last quarter but unemployment is still running at a record high and businesses and households are struggling to recover.
