A lot is being said about the Italian property market because of the increased interest from international property investors. The ground work for the attraction to Italian property has being laid by the fact that Italy has firmly ridden the housing boom that has gripped most of Europe for the past decade. The market for Italian property has been resilient but not immune to the property slowdown seen across the continent and in the UK.

The Italian property market having benefited from a slow but steady pace of price increases over the years has been protected to a certain extent from a major burst bubble effect. We have provided 4 must know tips to realising your dream of buying your Italian property.


VALUE GROWTH

The doomsayers predicted a bumpy economic ride for the world sometime ago which we already see coming to pass. The strong euro has the continentals popping over to the UK for their shopping trips rather than the other way round. This is all the reason to consider investing in the Italian property market because there are always good boots to be had on the bargain rack.

The peculiar side of the Italian property market is that despite interest rate rises, prices are continuing to rise at a comfortable rate, with a year-on-year appreciation at about 6.8%. According to a Clutton's research report, price rises of property in Italy are expected to slow in 2008 but they will at least still be on the up.

ITALIAN LAWS ARE EXTREMELY TENANT FRIENDLY

A major issue for investors is that tenants in Italy have very strong rights; Landlords are forbidden to request payment in advance amounting to more than three months' rent. Rents may initially be negotiated, but may not be increased after the initial 4-year contract by more than 75% of the cost of living.

According to the Global Property Guide, this has being detrimental to the rental market and has seen the number of rental property in the market reduce from 25% of the market in 1993 to less than 16%. The Italian market is then more attractive and less risky for overseas investors who want to invest in tourist or lifestyle properties.

SEVERAL THIRD PARTY COSTS

It is worth mentioning that in 2006 Italy did not rank very highly in the Real Estate Transparency Index released by Jones Lang Lasalle; it was 21st globally. It must be acknowledged that the buying process in Italy is relatively straightforward but there are many third party costs that investors must be aware of.

A few of these third party costs are geometra fees, notary fees, deed registration tax, land registration tax, mortgage registration fees and legal fees. The fees might be high and varied, however, the whole costs are quite low and will usually be in the range of 3-5%, excluding VAT.

NOW IS THE TIME TO INVEST IN ITALIAN REAL ESTATE!

Property experts generally agree on the 'right time' buying factor that Italian properties have. A few of the reasons include higher value of the properties in the future, abundant low budget flights and ever growing strong tourist industry. Italy is just about two hours and fifteen minutes direct flying time from the UK for example.

Italy also attracts about 21 million visitors every year and has transformed into a booming property destination for investors looking to purchase a property within a healthy tourist economy.

By: Mark Moon

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