According to the Italian Housing Market Survey carried out between 2 and 31 January 2018 based on 1,530 real estate agents, in the fourth quarter of 2017 the share of real estate agents that reported downward pressures on house prices turned upward again. However, compared with the previous quarter’s survey, signs of an improvement in demand conditions strengthened: the proportion of agents that sold at least one property increased and the stock of sale listings decreased.
The share of house purchases financed with a mortgage continued to account for a large proportion of sales (around 80 per cent). The loan-to-value ratio also remained at cyclically high levels, at over 70 per cent. The share of real estate agents that blamed the cessation of sale listings on the difficulties experienced by the buyers in obtaining home purchase loans fell to the lowest level recorded since the survey began in 2009.
Expectations regarding the outlook for the real estate market continued to be favourable, in both the short and medium-term.
