The stock market week, thanks to the absence of decisions by central banks on interest rates, offered a few ideas for the real estate sectorwhich is on the markets dropped in tandem with the general trendin an eighth dominated by quarterly results (where the disappointing ones made more noise than the positive ones). Some interesting announcements arrived at Piazza Affari, such as the first half data from Aedes and two strategic partnerships for Dotstay. On the macroeconomic front, signs of weakness arrived from the US market, while there was nothing significant in Europe.
The main indexes
The real estate sector had a negative week at European level, where the index STOXX Europe 600 Real Estate reported a -1.4% on a weekly basis.
Italy performed worse, with the index FTSE Italia All Share Real Estate brought home a decline of 2.2%, also outperforming the FTSE MIB market index which lost around 2%.
Real estate stocks on Borsa Italiana
Among the real estate companies listed on Pizza Affari, a week was recorded positive for Aedes, up more than 5%, Abitare In (+1.8%) and Next Re (+1.3% despite Friday’s skid). Little movement IGD. Bad Risanamento (-3.5%), Brioschi (-4%), Gabetti (-4.8%) and Dotstay (-8%).
Among the corporate announcements, Thursday evening Aedes presented the half yearlywhich closed with total revenues of 7 thousand euros, compared to 47 thousand in June 2023, and a loss for the period of 901 thousand euros, compared to a loss of 790 thousand on 30 June 2023. The Board of Directors said it was committed to draft and approve an industrial plan as soon as possible covering the period 2024-2028 and aiming to create value for stakeholders and shareholders, through the reduction of recurring costs, investment in income-generating commercial properties and opportunistic real estate transactions, as well as the relaunch of the core real estate development activity, including through growth through external lines.
Dotstaya company active in the real estate sector as a relocation and property management operator for medium-long term rentals, signed on Monday strategic partnerships with 4Health and SafeActive Consulting companies. Both companies assist prestigious hotels and luxury accommodation facilities, with the aim of helping hotel management find accommodation in a short time for employees and collaborators. Dotstay will have the function of searching the market, at the request of partners, for the best housing solutions for employees throughout the country, thus increasing its direct rental properties.
Macroeconomic data
Signs of weakness came from the US housing market on Tuesday. The existing home sales recorded a decrease of 5.4% in June 2024, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), after the -0.7% reported in May. 3.89 million homes were sold compared to 4.11 million in May and against the 3.99 million units expected by analysts.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Census Bureau reported another decline in new home sales in June. The data showed a decrease of 0.6% to 617 thousand units, compared to 621 thousand units in May (revised from 619 thousand) and against the 639 thousand units estimated by the consensus. Compared to the 666 thousand units in June 2023, there is a decrease of 7.4%.
On the same day, a decrease was observed for the mortgage applications weekly in the United States. The index measuring the volume of mortgage applications fell 2.2% in the week ended July 19, after rising 3.9% the week before. The index of refinance applications rose 0.3%, while the index of new applications fell 4%. Rates on 30-year mortgages fell to 6.82% from 6.87% the week before, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associations (MBA).
Market research
After the approval of the decree to save the house, the mini apartments they will be able to be rented and sold with a height of 2.40 meters and a surface area of 28 square meters for two-room apartments and 20 square meters for studio apartments. A study by idealista has therefore examined the situation of the two main Italian markets: Rome and Milan. The first data that emerges is that the concentration of mini apartments in Rome is about half that of Milan. As for prices, the mini apartment segment is more expensive in proportion to that of standard housing, both in Rome and Milan. The demand for mini apartments is also significantly higher than that of standard housing, in both cities.
Other interesting data came from the Crowdinvesting Observatory School of Management Politecnico di Milano. The last 12 months have marked a new step backwards in crowdinvesting market in Italy, especially for the equity part (-25.5%): the minibond sector (+34.5%) is saved, even exceeding the non-real estate lending segment, and the real estate sector (+7.2%), which knows no crisis. Going into detail, it emerges that thereal estate crowdfunding industry in the last 12 months has been “fundamental in supporting the crowdinvesting market in Italy”. Typically these are short-medium term projects that aim to redevelop, or build from scratch, and subsequently sell real estate properties: crowdfunding plays an important role in boosting initial financing thanks to the speed of collection and the absence of real guarantees. The projects financed in the last year in this sector have raised 191.56 million euros, +7.2% compared to the previous period.
