The Italian Housing Market Survey has been released for the second quarter of 2023.
The survey looks at current trends and short-term expectations for the residential real estate market and is conducted by the Bank of Italy together with Tecnoborsa and Agenzia delle Entrate.
According to the survey of 1,455 real estate agents conducted from 19 June to 19 July 2023, signs of a decline in residential property prices became more widespread in the second quarter, although reports of price stability still prevailed. The balance between assessments of an increase and a decrease turned negative and went back to early-2021 levels. The share of agents who closed at least one transaction remained stable at high levels. The average time on market and the average discount on asking prices increased slightly, but remained at low levels. Demand conditions reflected broad-based weakness, as shown by the deterioration in the assessments of the number of potential buyers. Almost one in three respondents continued to report homebuyer difficulties in securing mortgages loans - the highest share since the end of 2014. On the rental market, rents were reported to be on the rise and agents expected further growth in the current quarter as well. Forward-looking assessments of overall housing market trends pointed to a sharp deterioration, both in the current quarter - for which expectations of a reduction in selling prices prevailed - and over a two-year horizon. Agents' forecasts for twelve-month consumer price inflation declined further.
