Italian Rental Prices Edge Up as Second‑Home Tax Burden Stays High in 2026

Analyses by the Tecnocasa Group’s Research Office show that rental contracts signed in the second half of 2025 recorded modest rent growth in Italy: +2.2% for one‑bedroom units, +2.3% for two‑bedrooms and +2.2% for three‑bedrooms. The pace of increase slowed compared to the previous semester, while demand for rental housing remains robust, driven by credit‑constrained households, non‑buyers and workers or students relocating. Short‑term rentals have contracted in large cities but still dominate tourist‑heavy locations, limiting the stock available for long‑term residents. In the same period, contracts for primary housing fell to 59.3% of the market, while those for university students rose to 14.1%.

A separate overview of second‑home taxation in 2026 notes that roughly 26% of Italians own a secondary property and must pay the municipal IMU tax annually, with the advance due by 16 June and the balance by 16 December. IMU is calculated from the cadastral rental value (adjusted 5%) multiplied by a category‑specific coefficient and a locally set rate. Additional obligations include the waste‑service TARI tax, registration duties at purchase and, where relevant, inheritance taxes. Municipal authorities retain discretion over IMU rates, creating significant variation in the fiscal burden for identical properties across different communes.