PROPERTY VALUATION IN ITALY
Anyone who has ever fantasized about buying property, or seriously explored the options offered by the real estate market in Italy or elsewhere has an ideal minimum – average – maximum budget in mind. How much property values in Italy? How can a prospective purchaser get serious tried-and-trued standard Italian property valuation for real estate? Is there a key, or a tool, for a soon-to-be buyer to estimate the cost of Italian property?
In a phrase: how much does property actually cost in Italy and what are the crucial variables? Location, location, location! If there’s one thing everyone knows about real estate it’s that all depends on where your ideal home, property or estate is. True as this is for everywhere in the world it’s even more so in Italy, where property prices vary enormously from region to region, city to city and town to town, and are also diverse for city and countryside, hillside or mountain etc…
Generally speaking real estate prices are noticeably higher in the main Italian cities than in smaller towns and country areas. In a medium/large city, in fact, the market flow is more flexible and renting is, often, easier, more affordable and worthwhile than buying. Job opportunities, facilities, perceived quality of life and attractions make the prices of housing in the larger and more “important” Italian cities higher than elsewhere. As of today the Italian cities where the average value of a property is noticeably more expensive are Milan, Rome, Venice, Florence, Turin. The top cities, where a lot of well-to-do Italians choose to live and which experience a steady and continued international flow.
On the other hand real estate prices are definitely lower in the Southern part of the country, with the exception of sought-after tourist destinations like fascinating Salento and the Amalfi Coast. In fact, notwithstanding the appeal of southern Italy’s year-round balmy weather and charming white-washed villages its challenging economical situation and less-than-perfect facilities make it definitely less attractive, which makes property much more cost-effective.
All in all forthcoming foreign buyers need to keep a sharp lookout on current market prices because the differences can be stunning. Property valuation in Italy differs from north to south. For example one of Italy’s leading real estate firms listed the following, quite remarkable, per square meter costs as of October 2020: € 2.,696 per sq. mt. in Trentino Alto Adige and € 929 per sq. mt. in Calabria.
In addition to the property’s location there the other crucial factors that come into determining the current value of a property in Italy are the house’s square meters and maintenance conditions, and its “legal use” allocation.
A property can be classified as “habitation” or “office” or “shop” or other use, and the property’s value varies according to the designated use. In general prospective purchasers should keep in mind that properties classified as “civil habitations” are more expensive. There are some cases in which Italian legislation allows owners to change the use of a property.
Properties classification in Italy
Group A
- A / 1: stately homes. The difference between properties comprised in the A/1 cadastral category and residential homes is determined by their location (in prestigious areas), and the high degree of finishing
- A / 2: civil dwellings. These are residential properties, where the vast majority of the population lives
- A / 3: economic housing. Housing units built with low cost materials and finishes. They have a lower cadastral income, as well as a lower purchase price than homes that fall within class A / 2
- A / 4: popular housing. Even lower level than economic properties, both in terms of finishing and construction features. No A/4 type houses are built in Italy nowadays.
- A / 5: ultra-popular housing. The land registry gives the definition of “realities outside the minimum indispensable standards”. Through the note from the Ministry of Finance dated 4 May 1994 (C1 / 1022/94), classes A / 5 and A / 6 have been canceled
- A / 6: rural dwellings. Properties for agricultural activities (suppressed by the decree of the Ministry of Finance together with class A / 5)
- A / 7: houses in small villas. Buildings corresponding to civilian homes but with the addition of outdoor areas for exclusive use
- A / 8: houses in villas. Properties with finishes and construction features superior to the ordinary, a very large surface area of the main areas and presence of park and / or garden
- A / 9: castles, palaces of outstanding historical or artistic merit. These buildings are characterized by a distribution of volumes and internal spaces that is different from all the other properties classified in the land registry
- A / 10: studios and private offices. Housing units intended for professional activities. These include insurance agencies, analysis laboratories and those used by dental technicians
- A / 11: accommodation and houses typical of the places. The classic example of properties classified with category A / 11 is represented by the high altitude hut, but there are also trulli and the mountain huts themselves
Group B
- B / 1: colleges, orphanages, convents, seminaries, shelters, hospices, barracks. The cadastral category B / 1 includes all those non-profit structures used for assistance for the elderly (hospices), for the education of minors (colleges, orphanages), for the spiritual preparation of young seminarians (seminaries), for the hospitality of the community of a mendicant order (convents), housing and the activity of the armed forces (barracks)
- B / 2: non-profit hospitals and nursing homes. They are public hospitalization and care facilities, therefore non-profit
- B / 3: reformers and prisons. The cadastral class B / 3 includes prisons for adults and minors
- B / 4: public offices. By public offices we mean the INPS offices, the offices of the Revenue Agency and the territorial offices of the Chamber of Commerce
- B / 5: scientific laboratories and schools. They are buildings built to host activities such as scientific research and education.
- B / 6: academies, galleries, museums, art galleries, libraries (provided that they are not inside prestigious buildings and castles belonging to category A / 9). All the aforementioned non-profit cultural venues fall into the cadastral category B / 6
- B / 7: oratories and chapels not intended for public worship. Buildings built to practice religion (not in public)
- B / 8: underground warehouses for food storage. All warehouses arranged at a lower level than the ground floor whose function is to collect stocks
Group C
- C / 1: commercial premises. The properties identified by the cadastral category C / 1 deal with the sale of products, such as shops and shops
- C / 2: storage rooms and warehouses. Structures used as evacuation rooms, storage of goods and attics
- C / 3: workshops for arts and crafts. Unlike commercial premises, buildings of cadastral class C / 3 are not intended for the sale of products, but for their creation or transformation by the craftsmen
- C / 4: premises and buildings for non-profit sporting establishments. All private facilities where you train or where a sporting event is staged
- C / 5: non-profit healing and bathing water establishments. Like category C / 4, these are private establishments
- C / 6: non-profit garages, sheds, stables and stables. Structures such as garages, parking spaces or car boxes, but also stables and stables
- C / 7: open or closed canopies. Any structure associated with a gazebo or canopy
Group D
- D / 1: factories
- D / 2: for-profit hotels. Hotels and other accommodation facilities where tourists stay for a fee
- D / 3: halls for shows and concerts, cinemas and theaters for profit. Plants where one or more artists perform in front of a paying audience
- D / 4: for-profit hospitals and nursing homes. Private hospitalization and treatment facilities, where medical services are offered for a fee
- D / 5: insurance, exchange or credit institutions for profit. The cadastral category D / 5 identifies banks and private insurance companies
- D / 6: premises and buildings for profit-making sports establishments. Stadiums, sports halls, swimming pools and all sports facilities where the public has access by paying a ticket
- D / 7: buildings built or adapted for the special needs of an industrial activity and not susceptible to different destination without radical transformations. Structures created specifically to carry out a specific activity, such as refueling stations
- D / 8: buildings set up or adapted for the special needs of a commercial activity and not susceptible to a different destination without radical transformations. Shopping centers are included in class D / 8
- D / 9: suspended or floating buildings secured to fixed points on the ground, private toll bridges. Buildings, constructions that do not have their own land
- D / 10: rural buildings. This category includes all the old buildings outside the urban area
Group E
- E / 1: stations for air, sea, land and transport services. Airports, ports and railway stations belong to cadastral class E / 1
- E / 2: municipal and provincial toll bridges. All public bridges for which each driver is required to pay a fixed fee
- E / 3: buildings and constructions for special public needs. Facilities such as kiosks and newsstands that sell newspapers fall into the category
- E / 4: closed enclosures for special public needs. The enclosures that delimit an area where, for example, a public grocery market is held
- E / 5: buildings constituting fortifications and their dependencies. These buildings are permanently exempt from the payment of the IMU, like all the other structures present in Group E
- E / 6: towers, traffic lights and lighthouses to make the municipal clock for public use. The same applies to the structures of the cadastral category E / 6, permanent exemption from the payment of the IMU
- E / 7: buildings intended for the public exercise of worship. In cadastral class E / 7 there are religious buildings such as cathedrals and churches, inside which masses and other religious functions are celebrated
- E / 8: buildings and buildings in cemeteries, excluding sepulchres, columbarias and family tombs. Structures for which the exemption from the single municipal tax applies
- E / 9: special purpose buildings not included in the previous categories of group E.
Group F
- F / 1: urban areas. All areas located on the ground floor of buildings stacked in the urban area fall into the cadastral category F / 1
- F / 2: collaborating units. Unusable structures, for which accessibility is not granted
- F / 3: unit under construction. Properties that have not been finished.
- F / 4: unit being defined. Compared to the buildings of the cadastral class F / 3 the difference is subtle but important. This category includes properties for which neither the intended use nor the size has been established
- F / 5: flat roofs. Flat roofs are, for example, terraces or free areas located above buildings and are part of the common parts of an apartment building
- F / 6: building awaiting declaration. Any building for which the registration request has not yet been submitted
- F / 7: infrastructures of public communications networks. The cadastral category F / 7 identifies all those structures built by telecommunication companies for public networks (see broadband)
Our Services
Professional knowledge about standing legislation, rules, and details, an insider’s take on the real estate market and skilled expertise in handling the paperwork first and then the development of your property. Including proficient expert real estate agents, real estate developers, surveyors, architects and real estate managers our team is able to assist you every step of the way, ensuring dedicated undivided attention and an exceptional outcome.
What we can do for you is:
- provide prospective buyers with a detailed accurate evaluation of a property considering all concurring factors (location, current conditions, rent potential income etc..);advise on the type of contract to be signed, rental price, and means of advertising the property;
- develop a specific Business Plan to illustrate future rent profits for rentals targeted to the tourist and international student market;
- provide prospective landlords with discerning advice on renovation and furnishing, suggesting innovative solutions apt to please and satisfy Italian and international tenants;