Print

Italy still a 'key market'?

Jaimie Kanwar

The Italian property market is apparently ‘cooling', but what does this mean for its long term prospects?

According to a newly released report from property firm Cluttons Italy, the market in Italy continues to show modest growth despite an overall ‘cooling' in the sector.

The report further stated that the risk of a downturn seems ‘considerably lower than in the price bubble markets'.

That's good news for investors, but discouraging for buyers who thought the credit crisis and assorted market factors might lead to a discount on their Tuscan dream property.

Roger Coombes, Manager of Cluttons Italy, observed: "Italy remains a key market for international buyers. Indeed, in the last 10 years, the advent of low cost airlines has made southern Italy much more accessible.

"This has led to a wider range of buyers targeting lower cost resort properties in southern regions like Puglia and Calabria".

"Even in the current softer international property market, prices on the Amalfi coast are rising at around 10 percent a year".

According to a recent analysis by research institute CRESME, one in five property sales will be completed by a foreign buyer in 2008.