Overseas Property Investors Boost Italian Luxury Property

The Italian luxury property market is being boosted by increasing interest from overseas property investors.

There has been a significant rise in sales of Italian luxury property valued at more than €10 million according to international property company Knight Frank.

The trend is also expected to filter down to lower priced homes in coming months and signals a strong recovery in the Italian housing market, after a slump due to poor economic conditions.

The number of enquiries for Italian property on the Knight Frank website increased by 133% year-on-year in 2017, with rising interest from foreign buyers the main reason for this recovery.

By far the highest proportion of interest came from UK overseas property investors, responsible for almost 45 per cent of all enquiries.

British investors were followed by Italians at 15.1 per cent, the US 11 per cent, then 2.6 per cent from Australia, 2.6 per cent from Germany, 2.4 per cent from Canada, 2.3 per cent from Switzerland, 2.2 per cent from Denmark, 1.9 per cent from the Netherlands and 1.8 per cent from France.

Amy Redfern, senior negotiator for Knight Frank’s Italian desk, said: ‘Our enquiry numbers for Italian homes, up 133% in 2017 year on year, suggests any uncertainty on the political or economic stage such as the general election, banking crisis and Brexit negotiations, have not influenced buyers’ decision making.’

She believes that the Italian lifestyle is the main attraction for overseas property investors, saying: ‘A second home located within a short flight of their primary residence, which offers strong rental prospects and the promise of a good climate, culture, and landscape acts as a strong pull.’

Florence, Rome and Lucca are the most in-demand regions in Italy, accounting for around 40 per cent of the enquiries. In particular, city apartments in Rome and Florence that are ‘easy to maintain as well as lock up and leave’ are proving popular with investors.

It seems that the Italian luxury property market is booming and ready to drag the rest of the market with it.