The House Price Index (HPI) measures the evolution of market prices of all residential properties that are purchased by households (flats, detached houses, terraced houses, etc.), both new and existing, independently if bought for own-occupancy or as an investment.
According to preliminary estimates, in the second quarter of 2021 the HPI (see Italian IPAB) increased by 1.7% compared with the previous quarter and by 0.4% compared with the same quarter of the previous year (it was +1.7% in the first quarter 2021).
The increase on annual basis of HPI was mainly due to the prices of new dwellings (+2.0%, down from +4.0% in the previous quarter); those of existing dwellings also increased slightly (+0.1%, it was +1.2% in the first quarter).
The increase of HPI occured in a context of sharp expansion in sales volumes (it was +73.4% the rate of change on annual basis registered for the residential sector in the second quarter of 2021 by the Observatory of Real Estate Market belonging to Tax Office), that is largely due to the comparison with the same quarter of the previous year, when the measures adopted to contain the spread of Covid-19 drastically limited the possibility of signing notarial deeds. Compared with the second quarter of 2019 (not affected by the lockdown measures), the increase in sales volumes was however very wide (+26.1%) confirming the residential market recovery.
The increase on quarterly basis in the HPI (+1.7%) was only due to the prices of existing dwellings that increased by +2.1%, while those of new dwellings were stable.
In the second quarter of 2021 HPI increased on quarterly basis in all the geographical areas. Even on annual basis, although slowing down, the prices of residential properties increased in almost all the areas (the Center recorded the widest growth equal to +1.2%), with the exception of the South and Islands where they slightly decreased (-0.2%).
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