Those of us lucky enough to live in Italy like to talk about the quality of life here, obviously each of us citing our particular corner as the place where life is lived at it’s best. The Italian daily newspaper, Sole 24 Ore, has for years made the study of this elusive quality a scientific process, using 90 different parameters to rank the quality of life in the Italian provinces. The results of their 34th year have just been released and to accompany this ranking the real estate portal Idealista has conducted an in-depth analysis on the trend of real estate values in the top ten provinces, looking at the year on year variations (2022-2023), the average price and the position occupied in the national price ranking. All the provinces, with the exception of Aosta (-0.5%) and Florence (-0.1%) have shown an increase in property prices. Those cities not lucky enough to make the top ten remain essentially unchanged from last year with Rome at 35th (-4 steps), preceded by Venice (-12) and followed by Turin (36th) and Genoa (47th, down 20 positions).

Top Ten Provinces

• Udine

The mayor of the Friulian capital, Alberto Felice De Toni, expressed particular gratification in the city’s first place in quality of life for women. Udine was twelfth in the last edition, and has only been in the top ten three times since 1990. The city lead the “demography, health and society” category and has consistently shown high levels of education.

Udine is in fiftieth place for the ranking of Italian provincial prices, with an average house price of 1,425 euros/m2 and an annual increase of 4.8%.

• Bologna

Bologna’s mayor, Matteo Lepore, observed that it’s position in second place “can only be maintained over time by improving every year, listening to citizens’ criticisms on welfare and the environment”. Bologna recorded a notable increase of 4.1% per year, bringing the average price of housing to 2,400 euros/m2 and placing the province of the Emilian capital in eleventh position in the national ranking of housing costs in the Italian provinces.

• Trento

Trento won the Sportsmanship and Ecosystem Index Urban 2023. The deputy mayor of Trento, Elisabetta Bozzarelli, highlighted the widespread commitment of her fellow citizens to volunteering, “a way of taking care of each other, of the community, and on this Trento has based its identity, its vocation and also its aspiration.”
Trento is in seventeenth place in the price ranking; house prices saw an increase of 6.1%, with an average price of 2,205 euros/m2.

• Aosta

Aosta is one of the top ten most expensive Italian provinces, with an average of 2,582 euros per square meter.

• Bergamo

Bergamo, this year’s capital of culture together with Brescia, rises to fifth place in the ranking of the most livable territories, and first place in the thematic ranking of “Environment and services”. House prices saw a revaluation of 5.7% to an average of 1,484 euros/m2, placing it in 49th place in the ranking of provincial values.

• Florence

Florence was in first place last year. It is currently in fifth position for house prices, with an average of 2,938 euros/m2, slightly down but substantially more stable compared to the previous year.

• Modena

Modena has only reached the top ten twice, in 1999 and 2022. The city offers more accessible prices to potential buyers, with an average of 1,658 euros/m2 and an increase of 1.7% in the last year.

• Milan

Milan achieved eighth position and first in the “Business and work” category. It is the second most expensive province in Italy in terms of real estate prices, reaching 3,372 euros per square meter after a significant increase of 6.4%.

• Monza – Brianza

Monza and Brianza take the lead in the “Wealth and Consumption” category thanks to good results in average household spending on the purchase of durable goods and real estate data. Monza house prices at 2,065 euros/square meter show an in increase of 4.7%

• Verona

Verona led the list in 2020 and 2021. It shows the greatest increase in real estate prices among the provinces analysed, with an increase of 9.7% compared to November 2022 and an average price of 2,111 euros/ m2.
The last word goes to the mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala: “We are in a phase of profound transformation, cities are forced to change and this transformation..also brings a big contribution to the country. These rankings should not be taken at face value but as tools for reflection.”