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Italy luxury houses are the favourites
21 October, Milano Finanza
Already +10% sales for Engel & Völkers
The signals of the recovery of the Italian residential market are stronger than ever. Luxury houses are no exception, on the contrary. In Italy, Rome is the first market and Milan is the first for what concerns prices, followed by Rome and Venice. According to Engel & Völkers, the global leading company in real estate brokerage of high-quality residential and commercial properties, in Milan the offer for new luxury properties represents 15% of the market, the remodelled ones are 25%, and those to be renovated are 60%. When it comes to luxury, anything goes, but there is a preference for small-and medium-sized properties, rather than the large-sized ones, with a growth of 23%. The Milan luxury property market is very dynamic, according to Engel & Völkers, to the point that in the first quarter of the current year, sales have increased by 13.8% with prices substantially unchanged: we’re talking about 10-15 thousand euro per Sq m in the prime locations and of “only” 6,500-8,500 for “old properties in good conditions and well located”. Rome is cheaper, here the sales in 2016 increased by 10,6% from 2015m with prices around 5,00-8,000 Sq m, and a maximum of 6,000 euro per Sq m for the old ones right out outside the city centre. Same story for rents: Milan is set around 300-400 euro for Sq m on a yearly basis, between 279 and 330 euro per Sq m for the capital.
But luxury doesn’t limit only to the two cities. In fact, the luxury real estate sector consists of Italian buying abroad and foreigners buying in Italy, “In 2000, the Italians buying luxury properties abroad were about 15 thousand, in 2015 they were over 47 thousand with sales covering 10% of the market. While the number of foreigners buying in Italy increases every year, in the last ten years they have been approximately 60 thousand”, explains Alberto Cogliati, Engel & Völkers commercial director for Italy. The company with headquarters in Hamburg manages properties only in some countries, where luxury properties are concentrated, a market the company is very familiar with: only in Italy, it has about fifty agencies and the objective is to reach 100 within the next three years.
According to the numbers, Italians buy for 28% in Spain, 13% in the United States with New York as the favourite, 10% in Eastern Europe, 5% in Germany (Berlin, Munich, Hamburg). “Italian clients buy abroad for three reasons: holidays, investing for the children, and investing for business”, highlights Cogliati. While the situation is different for the foreigners buying in Italy. “Most of them are from Germany, the UK, and Russia, even though in the past few years the number of clients from Northern Europe has increased, especially from France, Belgium, and Switzerland”, confirms the manager. These are mainly hedonistic purchases with buyers in love with the lake destinations. “In the last three years, the international clients of Engel & Völkers choosing these destinations have increased from 65% to 80%. Around 40%-60% of the company’s clients choose beach destinations, especially Sicily and Sardinia”, notes Cogliati. Every time the requirements are clear and specific. “Clients value the position of the property”, stresses the manager, “then they evaluate the presence of a garden, and whether the property is renovated. But the requirement number one remains position”.
Source: Milano Finanza
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi