Italian Market Flare

Demand for luxury real estate in Italy has increased by almost 50% since 2019, a new study reveals. Rethinking domestic spaces to meet new living desires seems to be one of Covid’s many legacies.

A renewed focus on living spaces is perhaps one of the main legacies left by Covid. The Italian real estate market noticed the trend early, witnessing changes in the public's buying interests and choices in the last couple of years.

Conceived with the aim of providing a true snapshot of the state of the luxury real estate market over the last three years, the first ’Observatory of the luxury real estate market in Italy’, published by the portal Immobiliare.it, shows that demand for luxury properties has grown much faster than the residential market as a whole.

The picture that emerged, in fact, shows that since 2019, the demand for high-end properties has marked an increase of almost 50%.

“The impact of Covid-19 on people’s mobility has led everyone to re-evaluate what surrounds them, in this case the immense heritage of our country. This is why people who would previously have looked abroad for a prestigious home have now decided to stay in Italy, leading to an increase in demand for luxury homes,” explains Carlo Giordano, managing director of Immobiliare.it.

This unique report is the result of immobiliare.it’s collaboration with LuxuryEstate.com and Realitycs, a company processing big data and market intelligence for the real estate sector. The approach adopted is based on statistics, econometrics and urban-geographical analysis thanks to the use of innovative technologies such as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence.

The study provides a comprehensive snapshot of the main drivers of luxury in Italy over the last three years, based on metrics such as demand, supply, time spent on the luxury listings portal, monetary value and total stock area.

From the overall look at the data, there are different trends among the major cities in the country, with Milan and Rome leading in terms of total stock value, followed by Versilia, Florence and Lake Como.

Dr Alessandra Micalizzi, psychologist and author, commenting on the data, invites us to interpret the new needs of the public with a reading that is not only economic-financial but also humanistic.

“In my opinion, one of the many challenges Covid has thrown at us is that of rethinking our domestic spaces. The home, especially for an affluent target such as the one in this market, is no longer a simple investment, but a place where we can seek serenity, where it is possible to enjoy outdoor spaces such as gardens and terraces rather than indoor space,” Micalizzi told Domus.

“Interesting cities are therefore those that manage to keep these aspects together: living in a high-level urban space, offering culture, entertainment, social life, and at the same time, offering properties with housing characteristics that satisfy the new desires of living with the well-being of the inhabitants at the centre.”