Istat has published data for the third quarter of 2009 on notarial deeds for both the sale of real estate units – divided into residential units (homes and appurtenances) and business units – and the stipulation of mortgage-secured and non-mortgage-secured loans.
In the third quarter of 2009, nationwide real estate unit sales agreements1 totalled 174,800, down 10.5% over the same period for the previous year. Of these, 162,514 (93%) concerned homes and appurtenances and 10,924 (6.2%) real estate units for business purposes.
In relation to type of use, sales of properties for business use dropped most, recording a downturn of 15.9%, whereas sales of residential properties fell 10.1%. This different pattern between the two types of property also characterises the first two quarters of 2009 and can be attributed to the fact that business property sales, unlike others, were probably affected to a greater extent by the current economic situation.
In the Italian version of Istat website is available a set of tables for the years 2007, 2008, 2009 (I-III quarter) containing regional details and records from various District Notarial Archives.