An apartment near Milan’s centre cost seven average annual salaries in 2000. But, currently, it costs 11 years. Since earnings have not changed much over the eight-year period, it means that housing prices have rocketed, reports the Italian publication Corriere Economia.
Lending conditions have also deteriorated. In 2000 an average household allocated 32.4 per cent of its income to the repayment of a loan, covering half the apartment’s price. Currently they have to set aside about 45 per cent of their earnings.
The situation in Rome is similar but the corresponding figures are six annual salaries in 2000 against 11 in 2008. Turin and Naples exhibit smaller increases.
The aforementioned calculation is based on statistics about the average earnings of an average Italian clerk in 2006, provided by Italy’s central bank.
However, factory workers are worse off. In 2000 they had to pay 10 annual salaries for a flat in Milan’s centre and eight annual salaries for an apartment in Rome. The current price is 15 average annual salaries. A housing loan would consume 62 per cent of their annual income.
