Italian house prices dropped 4.2% in 2014, says Istat-update

(ANSA) - Rome, April 3 - House prices in Italy dropped 4.2% in 2014 with respect to 2013, Istat said on Friday. The national statistics agency added that prices were down both for existing properties (5%) and for newly built homes (2.2%). House prices were also down 5.7% in 2013 with respect to the previous year.
    The Italian property market has been badly hit by the economic crisis and prices have fallen 11.5% since 2010, according to Istat. Giorgio Spaziani, the president of building federation Confedilizia, blamed rising property taxes for contributing to the market's troubles. "It's urgent and necessary to stop this string of bad news for the real-estate sector and for the whole economy," said Spaziani. "The only way to do that is the give a strong signal that the trend on property taxes, which have almost trebled with respect to 2011, is being reversed".