stevebenaulim

Im new to Italy, so please be gentle, my Italian girlfriend and i are looking to buy a flat in Bussolengo, a small town between Verona and Garda.
Its my second year living in Veneto.
I was living in Spain before Italy, Spain like most of Europe has seen sharp falls in property.
From what im seeing in my part of Italy, property is very overvalued, and no sign as yet of it dropping, why is this??.
Italy has the same problems as Spain, I.E unemployment, dfificulty to borrow money etc, but property may have stabalised, but not dropped.
Im almost a cash buyer, and i can wait.
Thx.

modicasa

HI, I think you're a bit off the mark on a couple of points. Italy is not the same as Spain - the mortgage market here and therefore the property market are very different. The huge property bubble in Spain has not been replicated here in italy - where the market has always been very stable seeing low annual growth. While the two countries have the same problems in the eyes of the markets, on the ground they are very different.
You say property is overvalued - but compared to what? It is overvalued if it is more than you are prepared to pay, but the market sets itself, and where you are looking is one of the most expensive areas of Italy. Being a cash buyer is a plus, and gives you more negotiability on a sale, but it doesn't mean prices will collapse just because you want to buy. unfortunately.

stevebenaulim

Thanks oh well i can live in hope, most of Europe, property has dropped to some degree, overvalued to what people earn and can borrow, but i do realise its a very expensive area.
Talking to Italians in this area, the price of property has grown very quickly over the past few years, but is stable now even decreasing a little.
I will still wait and look, as a cash buyer, maybe a deal will come along.
Thanks.

stevebenaulim

P.S They are building everywhere in this area.

37100

Don't hold your breath. As Modicasa said, overvalued by whom? Italian families chip in and help each other enabling them to buy places that would otherwise have been far out of their reach.

Prices have slown down, but an apartment in our building has just been valued at 30% more than when we bought our's 10yrs ago. The owner hasn't decided whether he will sell or not. And that's the thing. Italy is a totally different market. People rarely NEED to sell. They buy a place and stay there. If they inherit a place, they will just keep it, even leave it empty. And having cash makes little difference if the vendor isn't in a hurry to sell.


There are a lot of new builds, which come with a premium price tag, standing empty. But they are more likely to be in less favoured parts of Verona -in my experience.

Capo Boi

I agree and also disagree with the above. In my mind its all about location. In certain areas prices are hard down and are coming back to more realistic levels. A 30% price increase over the last 10 years seems about right. The trouble is, many, many expats have paid way over the top for a pile of stones and are in complete denial when they try to sell. The €2.5million Tuscan village currently being offered for sale was originally a €5 million Tuscan village. Google something like Italy property price reductions. I'm guessing most were overpriced in the first place. I'm going to be shot down here but price per metre squared should always be your benchmark. Spend time, and do your own research in your area. Get a feel for price per m2 and do your adjustments from there.

modicasa

Capo Boi is right - but what Italian would buy a romantic Tuscan ruin? Where you are in competition with Italians the market is completely different to that where its two foreigners slugging it out over the right to drive 4 km on crap ground to a hut with no services.

Capo Boi

I've noticed that a headline 750,000 houses for sale in Italy is being thrown up by a number of sites. Actually, this number is not substantially different from the number of properties on the market in the UK. Cento Milano trades at €10,000 per m2 as does central London. Milan, London prices are generally unchanged since 2007. West coast of Scotland (have a place there), rural location in ?, down 30%. It really is all about location in my mind. Something thats cheap, is cheap for a reason and it always will be and thats fine if you never want to sell. Fascinating Aida are waiting in the wings. Cheap A, Cheap B....

Anyway, the whole market looks much better priced now and given the euro weakness over the past year, could be a good time to buy. Not good for sellers though. (And I'm not or have any monetary connections to any estate agents).

Candida Jones

I think some real bargains can still be found though I confess I don't know the area of Veneto you mention. When we bought our house in Emilia Romagna 10 years ago we paid E40k, about a third of the cost of most of the houses we saw through agents. And it was the most lovely; historic, stone-built, surrounded by woods and mountain views. I'm still struck by how many others like it I come across. It was a case of driving around and chasing up all the vendesi signs we found. With time I'm sure you'll find a gem. I'm almost embarrased to be so bare-faced but a friend and I have since set up a small company which sells the vendesis of this world. The friend is based in Veneto (Vittorio Veneto) and he might have some gems up his sleeve. If you'd like to speak to him I'd be happy to pass on his number.

modicasa

a friend and I have since set up a small company which sells the vendesis of this world.

Hope its all legal and above board!

Candida Jones

Ma ci mancherebbe altro! Candida

duffer

sounds fishy to me

Candida Jones

not in the least!!! My partner lives in Veneto and is a geometra specialising in the restoration of historic houses and I live for 6 months a year in Emilia Romagna. In my village there are lots of lovely houses that people would sell if they could find a buyer. Locally, there aren't any. So the idea is that we put the owners (the "vendesis") in touch with possible buyers. We don't charge any more than a local Italian agent but because my neighbours trust me we have access to lovely places that agents never see. Ditto the partner in Veneto who knows his area like the back of his hand. Sorry for long explanation but it really couldn't be more above board. There are swathes of places close to me (the Tusco Emilian Appennines) that agents just have no intertest in and they are dotted with beautiful villages that are slowly falling down and need love. My house was one of these.

37100

Candida, you aren't used to Duffer. Candida - fishy......

Lorna at Vicenza

Hello and welcome to the forum.
Please feel free to join in with any of our discussions, but I must warn you that advertising one's own business is not allowed so please don't think of using the forum that way. Oh, and I removed your personal email address from another thread. It will only attract spammers. Thanks.