The Rising Tide of Housing Prices

Post date: Sep 30, 2015 3:40:30 AM

The population of Venice has been in decline for many years due to many circumstances; one of the primary being the rising cost of real estate in the city. Venice has a fixed quantity of housing available, making it a very scarce commodity. Throughout Italy, the average price of real estate in 2010 was 1,578 euros per square meter. Contrasting that, the average price in Venice, the 5th most expensive provincial capital, is 5,333 euros per square meter. At more than 3 times the average housing price, it becomes easy to see why residents are looking elsewhere. Meanwhile, housing in the nearby Rovigo region goes for between 1266 and 1900 per square meter.

Someone making a small salary working at one of the shops in Venice isn't going to want to live in Venice if they'll be wasting so much money on housing; they'll choose an off-island location with a cheaper cost of living, in order to maximize the earnings they're making. This also explains the aging population in Venice. The people who live there now are the ones who already own homes in the city, and therefor don't have to worry about "breaking in" to the market.

Housing prices for a city center in Italy have greatly increased since the 60's, climbing up above 50% above their initial value. Since Venice is basically strictly a city center, we can look at this to see how this problem has only been growing, and will continue to get worse.