Positive week for the Italian real estate sector, supported by the performances of IGD and Gabetti, and with the All Share Real Estate performing better than the pan-European index. Central banks in the spotlight with the ECB and the minutes of the meeting at the end of April which showed that several members would not be opposed to a rate increase, all in view of the next meeting in mid-June. On the macroeconomic front, overseas prices in the US real estate market are rising according to the FHFA and S&P Case-Shiller indices while mortgage applications are collapsing.
ECB in the foreground
The minutes of the ECB’s latest monetary policy meeting, held on 29-30 April, were published on Thursday. The minutes showed that “several members” of the Governing Council noted that “the decision was a close call and that they would not have opposed a rate increase” at that meeting “if such an option had been on the table”.
According to these members, an interest rate increase at that meeting “would send an even stronger signal of determination to bring inflation back to target quickly” and the negative supply shock was more pronounced than implied in the staff’s March projections and indicated a “possible worsening of supply bottlenecks, with more widespread and persistent inflationary pressures”. These members also highlighted their concerns regarding indirect and second-level effects.
Despite these concerns, “all members supported the decision to keep interest rates unchanged, as there was no urgent need for a rate increase at this meeting, provided that the communication underlined the Governing Council’s firm commitment to establishing a monetary policy that ensures the stabilization of inflation at the target level over the medium term.”
It was highlighted that the staff’s March baseline projections were contingent on two rate hikes by the end of the year.
The next ECB meeting will be held on 10 and 11 June, followed by the Federal Reserve meeting on 16 and 17 June.
The macro data of the week
Prices in the US real estate market are growing in the first quarter of 2026. The FHFA index developed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which measures US home prices, showed an increase of 1.7% between the first quarter of 2025 and the first quarter of 2026. Compared to the fourth quarter of 2025, home prices in the first quarter of 2026 increased by 0.5%. The seasonally adjusted monthly index for March grew by 0.1% compared to February (revised at -0.1%), in line with analysts’ expectations.
Prices also increasing according to what was found by the S&P Case-Shiller index, which measures the price trend in the main twenty metropolitan areas of the United States, which for the month of March showed an increase on an annual basis of 0.8% compared to the +0.9% of the previous month and expected by consensus. On a monthly basis, the increase was 1.0% compared to +0.4% in February. The seasonally adjusted index, however, reported a decline of 0.2%, compared to -0.1% in the previous month.
Also in the United States, the Census Bureau detected a slowdown in the sale of new homes in the country in April. The data showed a decrease of 6.2% to 622 thousand units compared to the previous 663 thousand units, when an increase of 3.4% was recorded.
Mortgage applications are falling again in the United States. In the week to 22 May, the index measuring the volume of mortgage loan applications recorded a decline of 8.5%, after the -2.3% recorded the previous week. The index relating to refinancing requests collapsed by 18%, while that relating to new applications remained essentially stable. This was announced by the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA), indicating that rates on thirty-year mortgages rose to 6.65% from the previous 6.56%.
News from the sector
Assothermica, the Association of manufacturers of equipment and components for heating systems federated with Anima Confindustria, has asked the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Safety to immediately convene a discussion table to work on the definition of guidelines for the implementation of the European directives EPBD IV (Energy Performance of Buildings Directive), also known as “Case Green” and EED (Energy Efficiency Directive).
The appeal came on the eve of the failure to transpose the European EPBD IV directive on the climate neutrality of the European building stock by 2050, whose official deadline was set for 29 May 2026.
While waiting for the launch of the consultation on the building renovation plan and the transposition legislative decree, Assothermica intended to send a clear alarm signal on the heat generator market. The association calls for the immediate restoration of incentives for boilers and other gas appliances.
Renato Maffey was unanimously confirmed as National President of ANAMA Confesercenti, the National Association of Business Agents and Brokers.
President of Toscano Spa, Maffey therefore remains at the helm of the trade association after five very intense years, confirming the work carried out and the trust placed in the work of the National Presidency, of the Deputy Vice President Davide Agretti, also confirmed, and of the Coordinator Fabio D’Onofrio.
Maffey announced that a large National Congress is already being organized, scheduled for 1 October 2026, during which numerous issues related to the real estate sector and the category will be addressed, in the presence of important entrepreneurs, political figures and representatives of institutions.
The performance of the sector on the stock exchange
The real estate sector on the stock market experienced a positive week, but was more cautious than the pan-European Stoxx 600 Real Estate index, which recorded a clear increase (around +1.4% on a weekly basis).
The Italian FTSE Italia All Share Real Estate index showed an increase of +1.7%, doing better than the FTSE MIB market index which recorded an increase of 1.2%.
Among the real estate companies listed on Piazza Affari, IGD did best, advancing by 2.1%, followed by Gabetti, up by 1.6%. Aedes increased fractionally (+0.2%), which acquired a residential property in Courmayeur for an amount of 1.55 million euros. The operation was completed on 27 May 2026 through the newly established wholly owned subsidiary Immobiliare Langhe, with charges and accessories estimated at approximately 150 thousand euros.
In decline, however, Abitare In (-0.4%) and Brioschi (-0.6%), sales more pronounced on Risanamento (-1.9%).
