Increased interest shown by buyers from Russia, Canada, USA, Norway and Switzerland
The Italian property market is likely to be buoyant in the first six months of 2012 as buyers from Russia, Canada, the US, Norway and Switzerland show an increased interested in real estate, it is claimed.
According to Linda Travella, an Italian Property expert who has been selling property in Italy for 24 years, recent months have been the busiest for four years.
‘I see the market for buying property in Italy staying buoyant for the first two quarters of 2012. We already have clients booking to view property for sale in Italy in January, which is something that does not happen every year, as it is normally a quiet month,’ she said.
‘The last quarter of 2011 is the busiest it has been for four years with a surprising amount of enquires and sales of Italian property. These are not all coming from the UK but from an international clientele,’ she explained.
She pointed out that the most buoyant market sector is from €350,000 to €500,000 and then €750,000 upwards, with various clients in the bracket at over €1,000,000.
‘In general clients are realising that they will receive less income by putting their savings in the bank or pensions and have seen over the years that by investing in the right type of real estate in Italy they can obtain rental income whilst using the property themselves,’ said Travella.
‘We suggest that to obtain a reasonable capital return, clients keep their Italian property for three years but five years would be optimum as there is no capital gains tax in Italy after five years,’ she explained.
‘I believe that the first quarter of 2012 will show the same sort of levels of interest as the last quarter of 2011 in Italy, save major economic worldwide issues. I am finding that UK clients that have been interested and viewed in the past are returning to purchase as sterling is stronger against the Euro,’ she added.
And she pointed out that if this continues in 2012 more UK clients may return in the middle and lower price bracket.
‘But I see the higher end of the market continuing to fare the best with UK and international buyers,’ she concluded.
Looking to other European markets, Travella believes that there is a very mixed bag of markets at the moment.
‘People are looking for bargains in Spain and finding them and the American market is seeing an improvement. France is fairly quiet with some good buys to be found on the Coté d’Azur. If you are feeling brave you could try Greece whilst Turkey has seen a downturn in the last three years which has not yet recovered,’ she added.