Apartment seekers in the Eternal City fear their searches will also last forever, as the long-term rental market in Rome is drying up as landlords try to cash in on renting to pilgrims during the Roman Catholic Holy Year of 2025.
With some 32 million tourists expected to flock to the Italian capital for the Jubilee, industry groups estimate that the number of conversions from apartments to short-term units has doubled in the last year.
And monthly rents, for what remains in the long-term market, have risen by around a third in the same period.
“I don’t remember a market so tense,” said David de Arce, a rental agent in Rome since the mid-1990s. “What is surprising is the acuteness of the lack of availability of places, regardless of the price.”
The cost of a small studio in many of Rome’s central neighborhoods has risen to at least 900 euros ($946), according to rental consulting group Solo Affitti. A one-bedroom costs at least 1,200 euros ($1,261); a two-bedroom, at least 1,400 ($1,471).
With an average salary of less than 2,000 euros ($2,105) a month after taxes, according to a Reuters calculation from government data, the increase is forcing many Romans to move away from the city center.
Rome is the world center of the Catholic Holy Year, which begins on December 24, Christmas Eve, and runs until January 6, 2026. Catholic pilgrims who come during the Jubilee can obtain special indulgences, or the remission of their sins, if they meet certain conditions.
Jubilees of this type are normally celebrated every 25 years. Rome has raised billions of euros in state and European funds to redevelop tourist sites, parks and streets.
With information from Reuters.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and don’t miss our content
Follow information about the world in our international section
