Homes and proximity to ports: the impact on prices varies from city to city

In some cases it adds value, whilst in others it is a negative factor. The presence of a port near one’s home influences property values, either driving them up or down. This is what emerges from a study carried out by Immobiliare.it Insights on house prices in areas adjacent to Italy’s main ports. And property values vary from city to city. The most striking example is Salerno, where buying a property within a short distance of the port requires a budget of over €3,500 per square metre. This is 23 per cent higher than the average price in the municipality, where the figure per square metre stands at €2,863.

This is not, however, the only such case. In Messina and Trieste, too, house prices in areas adjacent to the port are significantly higher than the municipal average: in the Sicilian city, the gap stands at 22 per cent, or €1,288 per square metre compared with €1,056 in the rest of the city. In the capital of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the gap stands at 21 per cent, with a price of €3,201 per square metre compared with the municipal average of €2,640. Although lower, property prices in Ravenna are also rising significantly in the areas adjacent to the port, with an increase of 19 per cent compared with the municipal average. Here, the price per square metre is €2,562, compared with €2,151 in the rest of the city.

The trend is continuing – with double-digit differences between the two prices – in Bari too, where the increase is 15 per cent, and in La Spezia, where it is 10 per cent. The price rise in the port districts of Naples is more modest, though still evident, with a 7 per cent increase, pushing the average price from 3,017 euros per square metre to 3,238. Prices have risen by just 2% in Palermo (€1,575 compared with €1,548 per square metre) and in Civitavecchia (€1,852 compared with €1,822).

This trend does not apply to all coastal towns. In Taranto, for example, there has been a marked reversal, with property prices in areas near the port 29 per cent lower than in other neighbourhoods. A 26 per cent drop is also seen in Genoa, where prices range from €1,317 per square metre in the port area to a city-wide average of €1,782. The exceptions in Genoa are the micro-areas of Caricamento and Molo, which record prices well above the city average, at €2,577 and €2,451 respectively. The situation is also negative in Ancona, where proximity to the port has a downward effect on house prices, which are 12 per cent lower than the city average (€1,554 per square metre vs. €1,756 per square metre). Finally, the difference observed in Livorno was more modest at -3 per cent, and in Reggio Calabria at -2 per cent.

Venice, however, is a special case. In the city on the lagoon, there are two neighbourhoods closest to the port: Marghera–Catene and Santa Marta. Depending on the area being considered for purchase, ‘prices are either well above or well below the city average of 3,331 euros per square metre’. In Marghera–Catene, prices fall by almost 50 per cent, with an average cost of €1,724 per square metre. ‘This figure also reflects the neighbourhood’s location, situated on the mainland part of the municipality,’ the study points out. Santa Marta, on the other hand, is situated in the historic centre of the lagoon city, where the property market generally commands higher prices: anyone wishing to buy a home in this area must therefore pay an average of almost €4,750, around 42 per cent more than the city-wide average.”