It’s all about rates. That of inflation, first of all, pushed upwards by international crises, but also by turbo effects on certain materials for the Superbonus. And then those of interest: shot upwards precisely as an antidote to the price increases, but which ended up making bank mortgages inaccessible.
This is why during 2023, in Turin and its province, house sales suddenly stopped and values per square meter increased. This is demonstrated by the latest edition (the twenty-fifth) of Borsino Immobiliare Fimaa Torino, which in addition to celebrating a quarter of a century, also photographs a still uncertain situation at a market level for the brick under the Mole. “We can talk about a year of adjustment – says the president of Fimaa Torino, Franco Dall’Aglio -. Inflation and rising interest rates have certainly had an impact, but we expect 2024 to bring new opportunities for both investors and sellers.”
The hope is that, in the medium term, the decline in interest rates will continue its path: “With inflation under control and a possible reduction in rates by the European Central Bank, the purchase of properties will once again be seen as a solid investment option.”
In the meantime, however, if the horizon for a real change of scenario is expected in 2025, last year was archived with 14,883 operations concluded in the city of Turin alone: the drop is 7.8% compared to 2022. In the metropolitan area things went even worse: 34,226 sales, with a contraction of 9.8%.
Then breaking down the city into sub-areas, it emerges that the area that suffered the most from the slowdown was the so-called “New Turin”, which between Borgo San Paolo, Cit Turin, Crocetta and San Salvario recorded the most marked decline, with a reduction of 11.8%. Strong decline also for the South-Western suburbs (-9.3% for Parella, Pozzo Strada, Santa Rita, Mirafiori and Nizza Millefonti).
Just below “Old Turin”: San Donato, Valdocco, Aurora and Vanchiglia leave with -9.1%. But difficulties in closing deals are also reported in the Collinare Oltrepò area (-4.5%), in the northern outskirts of the city (-3.8%) and in Turin’s historic center (-1.5%).
Things are even worse in the municipalities on the outskirts of the capital: the Western Belt is -16.7%, the Hilly area -15.3% and the Southern Belt -14%. Municipalities in the North also performed badly (-12.7%). Moving away from the belt, things do not improve: the Pinerolese area (-10.6%), the Canavese area (-9.6%) and the lower Val Susa also fell significantly. “In this case, however – underlines Dall’Aglio – the end of the search for out-of-town accommodation also has an impact, as the pandemic had pushed us to do”. The only exceptions: the Ivrea area (+4.5%) and the ski area, with a +2.7%.
A plus sign also for values per square meter: the average price in Turin rose by two and a half points to 2,256 euros. In the rest of the province, however, the average figure is around 1,120 euros. The tastes of those looking for a home are oriented towards two “sizes”: medium-small (between 50 and 85 square meters) and medium (up to 115).
Situation apart from that of the commercial market, offices and shops. In this case, sales increased (+4.7%), with an average price of 1,423 euros per square meter for the first type, while the second marked an increase of 4.3% and an average price of 1,478 euros. However, the growing trend of shops becoming homes is worrying: “In some areas of the city it may even be the only solution – concludes Dall’Aglio – but in other neighborhoods we think everything should be done to defend commerce and its presence of safety on the streets: tax breaks and flat rate tax may be the solutions.”
