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Bloomberg
Milan and Rome were the best and worst major Italian cities for home sales last year, revealing a widening economic gap between the country’s capital and its financial center.
Residential transactions jumped 13.4 percent in Milan last year, while sales in Rome increased 0.8 percent, according to data released by the Ministry of Economy. Sales nationally picked up 6.5 percent last year.
The latest data reaffirms Rome’s reputation for sluggish economic growth and political dysfunction. The capital has been under special administration by the national government since mayor Ignazio Marino resigned in October and the main political parties are struggling to find mayoral candidates for elections later this year.
“Beyond Rome’s old problems with traffic and infrastructure, prices remain generally too high and the real estate market has still to reach a point of equilibrium between demand and supply,” said Giuseppe Sullutrone, local head of FIAIP, Italy’s largest property agents association. “Moreover, many large companies are currently moving their headquarters within the city†so employees are postponing purchases, he said.
Rome-based statistics office Istat will release national data on residential prices in 2015 on April 4.