Property in Italy
Rivalling France for its offering of peaceful bolt-holes immersed in continental culture, Italy is a favourite destination for holiday or retirement house-hunters. There’s more to it than Tuscany too, as the lesser known regions of Le Marche, Abruzzo, Puglia, Calabria and the island of Sardinia attract more buyers.
Property in Italy
Key facts
- Population: 58,133,000
- Capital: Rome
- Approx. exchange rate: £1 = €1.47
- Visas: None required. For stays over 90 days apply for a residence permit
- Time difference: +1 GMT
- Flight time from UK: 2 hours 15 mins
- Major airports: Bergamo, Milan, Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Naples, Palermo (Sicily), Alghero, Olbia (Sardinia), Pescara, Treviso, Genoa, Bologna, Brinidisi, Turin
- Dialling code: 00 39
Prices for Italy Properties from £38,600
Italy continues to win over the hearts of British buyers looking for an authentic slice of continental living. With the possible exception of Tuscany, Italy’s overseas property market has never rocketed like Spain, France or Bulgaria, but underlying capital growth has remained steady.
After peaking in 1992-93, the market gained momentum in 2000 and since then the average annual rate of growth has been eight per cent a year, according to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Low-cost airlines such as easyJet, Ryanair and Flybe have helped the property market in Italy, where the cost of living is still lower than in the UK.
Price rises in parts of Tuscany, notably Chianti, have slowed but the region is still too expensive for many buyers, except hard core renovators. A good investment area that is seeing active price movement is around the northern lakes, including Como and Maggiore. Investing in the Italian lakes means that, in rental terms, you can benefit not only from the summer season but also from winter ski holidays. The area is no more than an hour from the ski slopes at Madesimo and Aprica and can be reached via Milan’s Linate and Malpensa airports, and Bergamo. Rented accommodation is in high demand and short supply in this part of the country.
Le Marche and Abruzzo in the centre of the country are favourable alternatives to Tuscany. Look carefully and you can still find properties for renovating for less than £50,000.
In the south of the country, in the toe of Italy’s boot, Calabria has some very affordable new-build properties as well as unspoilt towns and villages where traditional properties are crying out to be restored and used as holiday homes, for example in Pizzo Calabro. Puglia, the heel, of the country is also an affordable alternative to the more northern regions.
The Italian island of Sardinia is a rising star in the overseas property world. Buyers are waking up to the fact that the island offers more than multi-million-euro villas for Russian businessmen; restored village houses are available for €100,000, detached villas from €200,000. The Costa Paradiso in the north-west is a current hotspot, namely the resort of Calarossa, built in the style of a traditional Sardinian village and near the small marina of Isola Rossa. Closer to the capital Cagliari is the glamorous Is Molas resort, where the Italian Golf Open has been hosted four times; luxury villas are being built there amongst a new Gary Player signature golf course, five-star hotel and spa and private beach club.
Search for 1000s of Italian properties online at www.aplaceinthesun.com
