Real Estate Auctions in Italy in 2025: Numbers, Trends, and What to Expect

If you are thinking of buying a property at auction in 2025, the first question is: how is the market doing? The numbers indicate that available lots continue to decline, but the average value is rising. Less quantity, more quality — at least on paper. Let’s see what these data really mean for those who want to participate.

The 2025 Market in Numbers

In 2025, 74,625 real estate lots were auctioned across Italy. This is a 4.9% decrease from 78,477 in 2024, and almost 18% less than in 2023 (88,174). The contraction trend has been ongoing for four years now, following the peak of 126,000 lots in 2021.

But pay attention to the data that often goes unnoticed: the total auction base value is 11.26 billion euros, with minimum offers amounting to 8.44 billion. If you do the math, the average value per lot has risen to about 150,900 euros — it was 138,700 in 2024. Translated: there are fewer properties at auction, but those that are available are worth more.

Another interesting data point concerns the composition: foreclosure proceedings represent 73.7% of the lots (55,018), while bankruptcy proceedings (bankruptcies, judicial liquidations) account for 24.2% (18,053) — and this share is growing by over 4 points compared to the previous year. The Business Crisis Code is starting to show its effects on the pipeline.

The Trend 2020-2025: What Happened

To understand where we are, we need to look at where we came from. Here’s the evolution over the past six years:

2020 is a separate year (pandemic, suspensions), 2021 saw a post-Covid rebound with record volumes. Since then, the decline has been steady: -10% in 2022, -22% in 2023, -11% in 2024, -5% in 2025. The slowing decline suggests that we are approaching a new "structural" level of supply.

Where the Auction Properties Are: The Regional Map

If you are looking for auction properties in a specific area, knowing how the supply is distributed helps calibrate expectations.

Lombardy (9,664 lots), Sicily (8,491), and Lazio (6,290) alone cover about one-third of the national total. But the regional dynamics tell different stories:

The data that stands out is Lazio: -17.5%. Rome and its province alone account for 3,909 lots, but the decline is significant and could indicate a change in the pipeline of procedures. Conversely, Piedmont (+16.7%), Friuli (+19.6%), and Basilicata (+16.6%) are seeing more lots entering the circuit — which does not automatically mean more opportunities, but certainly more choice.

If you are interested in exploring the auctions on the map, you can filter by region and province to see what is available in your area.

The Provinces with the Most Auctions in 2025

The top 10 provinces account for about a quarter of all national lots:

Rome remains firmly in first place, but Milan has dropped to sixth. Cosenza surprises in second place — a sign of how much the South weighs on bankruptcy procedures and older foreclosures.

What You Find at Auction: Types and Price Ranges

The composition of the offering in 2025 does not reserve major surprises, but there are some interesting shifts:

• Residential: 51.4% (38,347 lots) — remains the largest share, but down from 54% in 2024. Apartments, villas, terraced houses: this is the category with the most demand and the best award rates (around 50% according to 2024 data)
• Land: 13.3% (9,954 lots) — slightly increasing. Agricultural, buildable, mixed. They require specific skills and longer sales times
• Garages and parking spaces: 12.3% (9,198 lots) — increasing, often linked to procedures where the residential has already been sold
• Offices, shops, and commercial: 11.3% (8,413 lots) — commercial suffers from the transformation of retail, but can offer opportunities for those with vision
• Warehouses: 4.8%, industrial buildings: 3.2% — niche segments, interesting for entrepreneurs
• Construction sites: 1.2% (867 lots) — in strong growth (+37% from 2024). These are the "incomplete" properties from failed companies, often at very low prices but with technical and urban complexity

As for price ranges, there are no official data on the distribution by classes in 2025. But the historical profile of the market — and data from previous years — indicate that the vast majority of lots have auction bases below 250,000 euros, with a strong concentration in the 50,000-150,000 euro range for residential properties.

The Timing of Auctions: The Knot That No One Resolves

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room. The structural problem of Italian auctions is not the price — it’s the time.

Some numbers to frame the situation:

• From the moment a procedure is registered to the first attempt at sale, an average of 4.4 years passes
• The average time from procedure to award is about 5 years
• The average pause between one attempt and the next (the "offline phase") is about 108 days in the first quarter of 2025, but with enormous variability: 47 days in Rome, 218 in Florence

What does all this mean? That a large part of the lots you find today at auction are the result of procedures initiated years ago. And that every unsuccessful attempt (with the consequent price reduction) has added months — sometimes years — to the process.

For buyers, the good news is that progressive reductions create opportunities. The bad news is that a lot with many attempts behind it may have problems that are not immediately visible (illegal occupation, disputes, deteriorated maintenance status).

How Much Is Bought and at What: Award Rates

There are no complete national data on awards for 2025, but the numbers from 2024 — the last year with consolidated statistics — offer a reliable reference:

• 53,767 lots had at least one attempt at sale
• 21,112 were awarded → award rate of 43.8%
• The residential sector performs better: about 50% award rate
• Land and special categories are below 30%

Put bluntly: more than half of the auctions go unsold. This is both a problem (for creditors) and an opportunity (for buyers), because every unsold auction leads to a reduction in the base price for the next attempt.

The comparison with the free market is complex because properties at auction often have worse conditions (maintenance, occupation, constraints). But the structural discount compared to market prices remains significant, especially on lots that have gone through multiple sale attempts.

The Macro Context: Rates and the Real Estate Market in 2025

Two external factors directly influence the auction market:

House prices are rising. The IPAB index shows a growth of +3.9% in the second quarter of 2025, with residential sales increasing. When the free market is strong, auctions become more attractive: the discount compared to the market price remains, and the demand for the best lots increases.

Mortgages cost less. Rates on new mortgages have fallen from the peaks of 2023-2024, settling around 3.3%. More people can access credit, which broadens the pool of potential buyers — especially in the residential sector, where bank financing is more common.

The Reforms: What Has Changed and What Will Change

On the regulatory front, the period 2023-2025 has seen three significant changes:

Judicial Auction Database (BDAG)

The Ministry of Justice has established a centralized database for all auctions (foreclosures, movable, bankruptcy). The implementing regulation is Decree July 11, 2023, no. 99. The aim is to standardize information and improve transparency. It does not revolutionize the buyer's experience, but it creates the basis for more reliable analysis and more uniform access to data.

Cartabia Reform and Online Sales

The reform of civil procedure has also impacted real estate foreclosures. Online sales — already regulated by a decree from 2015 — are now the norm. For participants, this means: digital procedures, online offers, and the need to familiarize themselves with the platforms of the sales managers.

Business Crisis Code

Legislative Decree 14/2019 and its amendments (latest: Legislative Decree 136/2024) are progressively increasing the flow of properties from bankruptcy procedures. This is consistent with the 2025 data: the share of lots from bankruptcy has risen to 24.2% from 20.1% in 2024.

What to Expect in the Next 2-3 Years

Making predictions about the auction market is complicated, as it depends on variables that are often independent of each other. But we can reason on three scenarios:

Optimistic Scenario: volumes stabilize, award rates rise towards 50% (driven by residential), and times shorten thanks to digitalization. Discounts become more selective — fewer unsold auctions, more competition for good lots. Those who prepare well and conduct serious due diligence will secure deals.

Base Scenario: everything remains more or less as it is now. Regional fluctuations, long times with improvements patchy, discounts persist but with strong dispersion among courts. Rome is fast, other courts are slow. The market rewards those who know local dynamics.

Negative Scenario: a macro deterioration (recession, credit restriction) increases procedures and volumes. Award rates decline, auctions go unsold more often, and times lengthen. Discounts increase but so do risks: occupied properties, management costs, illiquidity.

Practical Tips for Those Looking to Buy at Auction in 2025

In light of all this data, here’s what to keep in mind:

• Read the appraisal, all of it. Don’t stop at the base price. Check the maintenance status, urban regularity, any occupation, overdue condominium fees. Every auction is a story in itself
• Don’t confuse "auctions" and "lots." You will see different numbers depending on the source. A lot can go to auction multiple times in the same year — 74,625 lots does not mean 74,625 auction events (which are many more)
• Use the minimum offer as a starting point, not as a rule. The minimum offer is about 75% of the base price, but the award price depends on competition. In desirable areas, you may have to offer more
• Calculate post-purchase costs. Transfer, possible forced release, renovation works, overdue condominium fees. A property "at half price" that requires 50,000 euros in works is not that convenient
• Monitor repeated auctions. A lot at the third or fourth attempt has already undergone significant reductions. If the problem is not structural (occupation, serious defects), it can be an excellent opportunity
• Get informed about court timings. The "speed" varies enormously: in Rome, the average pause between attempts is 47 days, in Florence 218. This impacts the number of reductions and the overall duration

The real estate auction market in 2025 is smaller than it was a few years ago, but not less interesting. Fewer lots, higher average values, and an increasing share of bankruptcy procedures. For those with patience, expertise, and knowledge of where to look, opportunities abound — you just need to know that this is not a market for improvisation.