Capo Boi

Inside the £1 house of Anfield's regeneration scheme | Daily Mail Online

It can work. Something like 600 buyers for the next release.

As regards Italy, property prices are only going one way from here ...and that's up in IMHO. The driver, as in the UK are Middle East, Far East and Sovereign wealth fund buying. Starts at the top but ripples down. I've nothing to do with property (only have a holiday home) but Euro weakness is encouraging buying. Switzerland has probably bought something in the region of €3 billion of residential property in Italy in the last 18 months. Makes no difference though, on a pile of stones in the country where unfortunately if more than €1 has been paid then it's not going to be an easy trade and unlikely to find buyers. Liverpool wins every time for the cheapies but i don't see too much downside now in Italy if buying a good property in a good location.

philat98

Istat, scendono i prezzi delle case. Codacons: "Colpa del calo-mutui" - Repubblica.it
This article in today's Repubblica is a fairly negative about the Italian property market. The readers comments even more so.

stefanaccio

Put me squarely in the negative-on-real-estate category. At least with regards to the Marche on down south. In my not too isolated town of 300 there are at least 20 empty houses that could be had if there were any buyers around. Not as much fun to rent but looking at the hard numbers from an economic standpoint you will probably be ahead of the game if you choose that option.

Juvefan

problem is, the italian dream of owning a small house in a rural area, thanks to under the tuscan sun is a dying dream with the baby boomers generation, I really dont see the millennials sharing that dream of moving to the isolated country in italy.
I think most young people today would rather be where its cool, the city, hip, or on the coast. connected, etc etc.
going back to your home town? which young people these days was a born in an old village?
many of these houses where nonno lives, will just remain empty, end up being a burden to the sons who inherit it, because of taxes, and cant sell it.people cant afford two homes anymore, I remember the days when having a summer home was possible, or a small batch at the beach, but now, prices are crazy, taxes on your second home, etc etc, its all considered a LUXURY! yeah right..
george cloony bought his mansion for 10 million, he is selling it for 100 million.
100 million! hahahahaha crazy..

the immigration is going on in europe maybe in 100 years, all the rural towns will have foreigners living in them.

JACHA

I'm not sure that what is happening in Italian small towns is specific to Italy. Some Australian small towns are ghost towns. Several years ago the banks closed, schools closed, and the Doctor left. Governments have cut services to these areas so there is just about nothing left. Whenever you look at moving to a country area the first thing people look at is what and where the nearest health services have available. There are very few jobs available for kids once they finish school (age 18 here) so they have no choice but to move to a bigger city. The national unemployment rate for those 15-24 is 13.5%.
A few years ago country towns offered houses for rent for $1 but the tenants had to make them livable and you had to have children so the school numbers could get a boost. Wasn't very successful but the town made money by selling the rights as a reality TV show.

stefanaccio

Agree with Jacha that these sort of things happen everywhere. I believe the problem was exacerbated in my area of Italy (and even more so in Calabria) by the old folks building/buying houses that could house three families, then having their adult kids transfer to more populated areas.

JACHA

... I believe the problem was exacerbated in my area of Italy (and even more so in Calabria) by the old folks building/buying houses that could house three families, then having their adult kids transfer to more populated areas.[/QUOTE]

Yes and this is the cultural difference. It appears to me that Europeans look after their families a lot more than we do here. I was fortunate that I was able to have the time off when my mother was terminally ill, and that we were in the financial position to do so. That doesn't seem an option for a lot of people in Australia or Italy.
Here in Australia there is a joke that the babyboomers or grey nomads as we are called (age around 55-65) spend their kids inheritance(called skiing). Parents can also have a reverse mortgage on their house to help their adult children by their own house. The average price for housing here where I live is about $570,000 and more in Sydney or Melbourne. There are cheaper cities though.
I have even heard from colleagues at work (age 30-40) that their parents might as well help them out now rather getting the inheritance later in life.
Our daughter wants us to enjoy our life now and spend every cent we have. We are trying to abide by her wishes with travelling every year.lol
Regards