The most popular areas of Italy turned out to be the leaders in terms of difficulty in selling a home

This is evidenced by data from Homepanda Horizon, the first analytical center that evaluates the real liquidity of the Italian real estate market. The list of locations with the worst sales performance included Navigli in Milan, the Historic Center of Rome, Posillipo in Naples and San Salvario in Turin.

While it was previously considered an axiom that a prestigious address automatically guarantees a quick transaction, today's statistics completely refutes this belief. In fact, in many cases the situation is exactly the opposite. The Homepanda Horizon research center, created by the real estate agency of the same name, conducted a large-scale monitoring of 243,266 listings for the sale of housing over 12 months of continuous observation in Milan, Rome, Naples and Turin. The final results break the most ingrained stereotypes of the sector.

Homepanda Liquidity Index

This paradox was revealed using two proprietary analytical tools:

Homepanda Liquidity Index (IVH): evaluates the real probability of a successful sale of an object on a scale from 0 to 10.
Thermometer discounts: records the frequency and size of adjustments to the initial price of the lot for the entire time it is online.

Famous neighborhoods where real estate "hangs out"

Navigli in Milan

In the Milan ranking, the IVH index placed the famous Navigli district in third place from the bottom among 32 city zones, assigning it only 1.8 points out of 10. The outsiders of the list also included Quadrono - Palestro - Guastalla (2.0), Solari - Washington (2.2), Arco della Pace - Sempione (3.4), Garibaldi - Porta Nuova (3.7) and the Historic Center (3.8). These six top locations associated with the concept of "Milanese luxury" currently demonstrate much lower liquidity than is commonly believed.

On the contrary, the leader of Milan was the student quarter Città Studi - Susa (7.0 points) - an area for ordinary comfortable living, which is rarely mentioned in the context of elitism.

The historic center of Rome

In the capital, this paradox is even more pronounced. In Rome's historic center, the frequency of price declines was 183% higher than in the Appio Latino - Colli Albani neighborhood, recognized as the city's most stable area. In the overall liquidity ranking, Rome's city center ranks at the very bottom with a score of 3.05 points. The best IVH indicator was recorded in the location Mezzocammino - Spinaceto - Tor de' Cenci (7.5 points) - a well-appointed outskirts that is never featured on the covers of glossy brochures.

Posillipo in Naples

A similar scenario is repeated in the south. In Naples, the upscale Posillipo district, a famous hilltop with panoramic views of the bay that has become the city's calling card for foreigners, is forcing sellers to revise their prices 140% more often than the more stable working-class San Carlo all'Arena - Sanità district.

San Salvario in Turin

In Turin, the San Salvario district, once a booming nightlife hub after the Olympics (it was long called the "northern Trastevere"), was noted for its average listing duration in 169 days. This is one of the highest and most problematic values in the city. Four different metropolitan areas and four independent databases confirm the same phenomenon.

Infrastructure trumps status

The common explanation for all four markets is simple: Real liquidity follows the development of the urban environment, not historical prestige.

In Milan, the launch of the new M4 metro line completely redraws the demand map: the Ponte Lambro - Santa Giulia area, which gained access to the line M4 has become the most dynamic in the country - lots are sold here on average in just 19 days.
In Turin, the large-scale reconstruction of the Lingotto zone (OGR technohub, M1 metro station, post-Olympic housing stock) pulls the location's indicators up to 100 days of exposure, which is a rare positive exception for the slow Turin market.
In Rome, high-quality outskirts with developed transport are consistently beating the old fund.

In none of the cities studied was the leader in liquidity a historically elite quarter - in all cases, the first places were taken by territories that have undergone recent urban modernization.

Four characters of the Italian market

Analysts describe the markets of four megacities as four completely different models of behavior:

Milan - rational and liquid. Here, record 84% of listings close without any reduction in the starting price. However, this accuracy is not due to the owners themselves, but to a developed ecosystem of experienced real estate agencies and high capital turnover. The average exposure period for a property is a record 27 days.
Rome is polarized. There is a huge gap of 91% between the “fastest” areas (80 days per transaction) and the “stickiest” (152 days). The dynamics change radically from quarter to quarter.
Naples is emotional. The sharpest contrasts are recorded here: from a minimum of 65 days in the Materdei - Museo area to a peak of 138 days in the Colli Aminei - Capodimonte - Ponti Rossi zone.
Turin is patient (or stagnant). The average sale period here is extended to 131 days, and in the Santa Rita - Mirafiori Nord area this figure reaches the absolute anti-record of the study - 170 days online.

Penthouse: a dream that is hard to sell

If elite locations are experiencing difficulties, then the most prestigious housing format - penthouses (with open terraces and panoramic views) - demonstrates even weaker results. They are the face of expensive advertising campaigns, but in practice they require the most time and the greatest price concessions.

In Milan, the IVH index for penthouses is 4.08 versus 4.57 for standard apartments (the difference is stable, albeit small). In Rome, this gap is maximum: 3.26 for penthouses versus 4.46 for standard housing - a difference of more than one point.

The most revealing statistics for Naples: only 51% of Neapolitan penthouses are sold without adjusting the starting price (in Milan, this figure is 81%). Worse, 12% of prime properties in Naples require five or more consecutive price reductions before a buyer appears. In Milan, this happens only in 1.9% of cases - a difference of almost six times.

Private seller vs. agency: the stereotype is confirmed (almost everywhere)

The long-standing dispute that private owners, without the help of professional brokers, more often make mistakes in assessing housing at the outset is confirmed by figures in almost all regions.

In Milan private sellers are forced to resort to multiple discounts (from 5 or more times) 58% more often than professional agencies.
In Rome this gap is 38% in favor of brokers.
In Naples the difference between independent and professional sales is smaller, but still noticeable.

The anomaly was Turin, where 78.2% of private owners never change their listing price, while among agencies this figure is 74.1%. At first glance, this may seem like a sign of high accuracy of independent valuation, but the context changes the conclusion. Turin is the slowest market in terms of turnover (131 days). Refusing to lower prices when buyer activity is initially low isn't financial literacy, but a key factor hindering sales.

This Turin paradox is the report's most important conclusion: identical behavior (holding the price) in conditions of high liquidity (Milan) indicates correct calculation, while in conditions of stagnation (Turin) it indicates a systemic error. Only by comparing prices with the time the property has been on the market can we understand the real state of affairs.