While the academic year 2023/24 has officially begun in Italy, many out-of-town university students are still searching for an apartment or, given the rental rates, even just a room to rent. In fact, the inflation throughout 2023 has led landlords to demand higher rental fees.
The Demand for Real Estate
The cost of renting a room for young university students: city rankings
What is the current trend in the main Italian university cities? The answer comes from the research office of Locare, which analyzed the cost of renting a room from a private landlord, comparing the cities of Milan, Bologna, Turin, Padua, Venice, Rome, and Bari.
- Among the university cities, Bari is the least expensive place to rent a room, although according to Locare, the average rent for a single room rented from a private landlord has increased (compared to the previous survey in May 2023) by 2.5%, reaching a monthly rent of 318 euros, with peaks around 460 euros per month.
- Rental prices remain constant in Padua, where the average cost of a single room has remained unchanged at 410 euros per month, with maximums around 480 euros.
- In Turin, the average rent required for the same accommodation in the university area has increased by 2.5% to 430 euros per month, with a maximum peak that can even double and reach around 870 euros per month.
- Rents are higher when looking at the situation in Bologna, where, on average, it takes 515 euros per month (+1%) to rent a single room from a private landlord, with maximums of over 540 euros per month.
- Venice follows, where moving for study reasons costs an average of 577 euros per month for a single room, about 3% more than in May last year (the highest rents go up to 600 euros per month).
- In Rome, the rent for a single room averages 610 euros per month (+1.6%), while the highest costs can reach around 660 euros.
- Finally, not surprisingly, Milan continues to rank as the most expensive city. The cost of renting a single room from a private landlord has increased again – from May to now – by 3%, reaching an average of 730 euros per month, with maximums that can even exceed 850 euros.
Real Estate Supply
Rental Yields
From the perspective of property owners, how much can one earn from renting a property? In other words, what can bricks and mortar yield in this market context?
According to an analysis by Tecnocasa (which examines long-term, non-seasonal rentals), the possibility of obtaining continuous rental income has made property owners cautious in recent times, especially in light of uncertainty and rising energy costs.
“Annual rental yields remain interesting. For a 65 sqm two-bedroom apartment in major Italian cities, the gross annual yield is around 5.1%,” explain the experts. But be aware: the metropolises with the highest returns are not the seven previously analyzed university cities. In the lead is Genoa with 6.4%, Palermo with 6.3%, and Verona with 6.2%. The first university city considered is only in fourth place, which is Bari with 5.4%, followed by Turin and Naples (4.8%), Rome (4.7%), Bologna (4.6%), Milan (4.3%), and Florence (3.9%).
