Italy home sales rebound as prices continue to fall

Rome

AS home prices in Italy fall for the seventh year, buyers have stopped waiting for the bottom. Sales of existing homes will increase 3.7 per cent this year, marking the first gain since 2006, researcher Nomisma Institute said in a report in November.

Purchases in Rome, Florence, Genoa and Bologna rose more than 10 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, Italy's revenue agency said. Homebuyers are taking advantage of the lowest mortgage costs since 2011 even as the economy contracts and prices continue to fall.