The Italians still perceive housing as a reasonably safe investment and the sector is expected to recover in 2010 despite the fact that Italian property market is now suffering the consequences of the global economic crisis, according to a latest report.
The latest study by economic intelligence company, Nomisma found that residential sale volumes decreased by 15.1 per cent in 2008. However, the drop was particularly marked in the last quarter of the year, after the deepening of the financial crisis. Industry professionals report that the falling property prices in Italy begin to tempt buyers looking for holiday homes and also making the pricier and more sought after destinations more affordable.
Alexander Kraft, CEO of Sotheby's International Realty in France said "There are more properties coming onto the market in top destinations than we have seen for a very long time. There are good deals to be found." This could be a very good time to go ahead and do it as vendors are more open to offers below the asking price than they have been for a very long time.
Nomisma's reports found that from January to June 2008 Italian property sales reduced and prices saw their lowest rise of the past decade, growing at about 2.1%. For resale homes, Offers around 12% below the asking price were commonly accepted. Nomisma points out that offers of up to 15% below the advertised price are accepted in the southern Italian market however the market is on balance and it is performing better than the north.
The property boom of the last decade did not trigger a major rash of new building in Italy and prices raised with much more constraint than those of other Western economies. Furthermore, Italian banks have been far more cautious in granting mortgages and Italians generally have lower levels of personal debt than others so the country is extremely unlikely to see a dramatic financial crisis on the scale of many other countries and the sector is expected to recover as early as in 2010.
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