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Southern Italy offering 'superb value'

The next ‘Mediterranean investment success story' will be a region of Southern Italy, claims one expert.

And overseas property investment specialists David Stanley Redfern believe that region will be Calabria.

According to a 2007 report by the Agenzia del Territorio- the Italian equivalent of the Land Registry- Calabria is one of Italy's most affordable regions.

Average property values in 91% of its comuni (administrative units) are among the lowest recorded in the country.

Liam Bailey, head of international research at David Stanley Redfern, quotes a few figures to show just how far money goes there.

"The lowest priced units start at £71,000 for a two-bedroom apartment in an off-plan development just five minutes walk from the beach, and with views of the sparkling Ionian Sea.

"That is a prime example of why Calabria is going to be so huge in the coming months and years; prices like that for a two-bedroom apartment on the southern Italian coast offer superb value for money."

At the same time, however, the Calabrian market has shown an encouraging degree of dynamism even when many other Italian locations are at best steady.

This is especially true in tourism hotspots-Italian estate agent conglomerate Tecnocasa reports that prices at seaside resorts in Calabria's Cosenza province have grown by 5.2% in the second half of 2007, while the Italian average has gone down by 0.8%.

Calabria's positive trend looks set to continue, according to Bailey: "When an area like Calabria begins to attract increasing international attention, with strict building controls ensuring constantly high levels of demand, it is all but a foregone conclusion that property prices will see sustained and rapid growth of at least 10-15% per year."