Calabria Property Market to Benefit from Increasing International Demand

The Italian property market is set for a 2010 recovery according to Italian property portal REPlat. The firm said that the main factor to drive this recovery was the fact that vendor realism finally began to increase in the third quarter.

“This decrease is the basis for market recovery, which we expect to take place towards the end of 2010,” says REplat president Vincenzo Vivo.

The REplat index also said that supply had decreased slightly, while demand increased, two very useful trends if a property market is to recover.

Italian property is also likely to benefit from increasing demand from overseas buyers, especially British, on the back of a recovery in UK consumer confidence triggering increased spending, and increased appetite for overseas property acquisitions.

The Calabria property market will benefit massively from this increase in demand from overseas buyers, especially because they are doing their research a lot more carefully than during the boom years.

This is because everything points to Calabria property prices seeing some very solid growth in the next few years. But more importantly than that, today's buyer is predominantly the holiday home buyer hoping to cover some of the cost by renting the property out. Calabria property is perfect for this:

A coastal region surrounded by sea on three sides, you are never very far from the beach in Calabria, as such it is increasingly popular with tourists from within Italy and around the world. There is a shortage of hotel rooms or commercial entities to house the increasing visitor numbers. This means that rental yields are almost certain to increase from the current 4-6% to 6-8% in the next 5 years.

A look at the Calabria property for sale currently tells you that the number of properties coming onto the market has been kept under control, which will ensure demand will continue to meet or outstrip demand. It will also tell you that the Calabrian property market has remained healthy, and developers have not had to cancel projects.

Reasons to Support Buying Calabria Property Sooner Rather than Later

Currently, there are two factors that are making overseas property investment in Calabria property less bright than it used to be:

1. The British Pound is currently very weak against the Euro, which means that Calabria property looks more expensive that it did in 2006.
2. British people are staying at home for their holidays, both because of the weak Pound, but also because of the recession.

However, if you look at it a different way, these are actually reasons to support buying Calabria property sooner rather than later.

Firstly: The fact that Brits are staying at home now is not a reflection on their reduced desire to go abroad, simply on their reduced ability to afford it. This means that when the UK economy recovers, which will cause a recovery in Sterling’s value also, there will be a surge in British tourism abroad. Calabria will be a favourite destination to avoid overcrowded beaches. This will be happening sooner than you might think; there are clear signs that the UK recovery is already underway. see: http://www.write-about-property.com/articles/?tag=uk+economy.

Secondly: Sterling can only go up from here, and so the fact that it is currently weak doesn’t make any difference to an off plan purchase. Off plan property is bought with stage payments, so the first one might cost you more because of a weak Pound, but as Sterling strengthens you will still benefit. Currently most Calabria property for sale is off plan.

And finally: there is currently some opportunities to buy off plan property in Calabria fairly cheaply, including apartments in Calabria for under 50,000 Euros. These will not always be off plan and will be a lot more expensive when completed.

Calabria Property Market to Benefit from Buyers Returning to Italy

Italy has been named as one of the five most popular countries with the Brits currently buying overseas property.

This is according to new data from UK broker of overseas mortgages Conti.com, which showed that the current overseas property buyers are clearly favouring the established market over any emerging market.

This has been put down to people's risk aversion after so many lost their money when the downturn struck, but you can't ignore the fact that most of the people currently buying overseas property tend to be equity rich lifestyle buyers with substantial down payments.

Lifestyle buyers have always favoured the established markets in short-haul Europe because it is more readily and affordably accessible to make full use of for all the family, i.e. you can book a cheap flight and head over to southern Italy for a long-weekend.

This just wouldn't be practical for long-haul destinations, neither in terms of the price of the flights, and the time spent actually enjoying yourself, not to mention jet-lag.

Thus, the fact that British lifestyle buyers are back out there and buying overseas property is always going to be good news for the Italian property market and those throughout Europe. Calabria, the hot new emerging market will benefit from this.

This is because it offers the cheapest property in Italy -- if not all the established markets -- with beach-front apartments for sale in Calabria being for well under £100k. But the main reason is: the properties that were being sold off plan when Calabria became popular in 2007 are now being sold as key-ready.

Calabria Property to Benefit from Increased Off Plan Property Sales

Overseas property agents and developers have revealed that buyers are showing renewed interest in off plan property abroad Overseas Property Professional magazine has reported (login needed).

The article says:

Overseas agents for destinations from Australia to Brazil are reporting successful sales of properties that haven’t been completed or even started, often because there is little other choice for the buyers. Hamptons International is seeing continued interest for off-plan projects in Morocco, while sales are rising in the completely off-plan market of Abu Dhabi, according to consultancy Landmark Advisory.

"The majority of our overseas clients actually purchase property in the off-plan stage,” said Denise Casey of investment agent Australian Property Solutions. Greater choice and tax incentives make off-plan purchases more attractive, she said. “As well as these reasons, Australia has a chronic housing shortage in most of its major cities, thus there is quite a supply and demand imbalance."

Developers, too, are recording strong off-plan sales. In its Caribbean resorts, developer Harlequin Properties is selling around 400 off-plan properties a month, while Barrasford & Bird Worldwide is enjoying one of its busiest sale seasons for two years at Halcyon Hills in Greece.

One reason mentioned for the rise in off plan sales is the off plan property is primarily what overseas buyers find when searching for property online. That rising off plan sales is the natural outcome of rising activity in the overseas property market.

This is certainly true of the Calabrian property market; where there is an abundance of off plan properties, key-ready properties are few and far between, and resale properties are like hen's teeth.

Thus, the Calabrian property market will undoubtedly benefit massively from off plan property's return to grace.

View Calabria property for sale off plan.

Calabria Property Bargains to be found

There are some bargains to be found in the Calabrian property market if you know where to look, it has been revealed.

According to a press release issued today, the cheapest apartments for sale in Calabria now start from £41,000. Previously the cheapest apartments in Calabria started from £50k. The press release also contained details of some 2 bedroom 2 bathroom villas priced from £97,000.

Calabrian property has not seen the same price drops as elsewhere in the developed world. This is because the internationally marketed properties are predominantly off plan, and the developers are in no way reliant on off plan sales to complete the developments, Calabrian Property.com said.

The company acknowledged the fact that off plan property's reputation has been marred by instances of developments being cancelled, mentioning Dubai where the problem was particularly prominent. But, they said, if you do your research, including at least one trip to the country and to the development, the risk can be minimised.

The unspoilt and under-developed nature of Calabria is sure to see it regain its position as a growingly popular tourism destination in the short and especially the long term. Taking advantage of the bargain off plan properties currently available could prove to be an incredibly shrewd decision down the line.

Calabria Property Seeing Increased Activity as Brits Start Buying Again

Things are really looking up for the overseas property industry at the moment, with reports of increased activity throughout Europe, on the back of Sterling's improving exchange rate against the Euro (Brits and Irish are the biggest buyers of overseas property.

Among the biggest benefactors of this increasing activity is the Calabria property market. Calabria property began seeing increased interest from overseas property buyers and investors in the second half of 2007 and into the middle of 2008. However its growth potential was severely stunted by the onset of the international economic misery.

None the less Calabria property developments continued to be built, and you can now get some real bargains on almost completed properties at off plan prices.

What's more all the same draws are still in place; Calabria property is still cheap, it is still underdeveloped and most likely to stay that way, and it is still set to see massive growth in tourism which will grow rental yields from their current 4-6% to 6-8% over the next 5 years from 2010 onwards.

Tam Stanley of Calabrian-Property.com is not surprised to see Calabria property picking back up where it left off now that the Brits are out there and buying again.

"Calabria offers the safety and stability of being in the established market of Italy, with the low property prices and growth potential you'd expect to find only in the more-risky emerging markets, making it a truly unique investment property. With all it has going for it we always knew that Calabria would be among the first to bounce back," he said.

Calabrian-property.com is a good indicator of the rising interest in Calabrian property; the site has climbed rapidly through the Alexa rankings, and is now ranked the 700,000 most visited site in the world -- a very respectable position for an overseas property agency.

Calabria Property Perfect for a New Beach-Loving Family

I am a very luck little blogger today; a young man named Carl Reeves emailed me today asking me what I thought about the Calabria property market. He and his wife have just had a baby, and want to invest now in a property for family holidays, and they have been seriously considering buying in Calabria.

They had read one of my posts about how overseas buyers are looking mostly at off plan opportunities at present, and that now is the time to get in and take advantage of the off plan discount, and reap the rewards in years to come as tourism continues to grow.

I agreed that this makes Calabria property perfect for them, because they can get a property by the beach for far less money than is possible elsewhere in Europe, and the developments will be completed when they are ready to start using it; when baby Jeff is on his feet and toddling.

Their budget of £80,000 is not enough to buy a beach-front property in very many places, and as they are water-sports lovers keen to enjoy the ocean with their family, getting a property within walking distance of the beach is one of their most important stipulations.

"I couldn't believe the prices of Calabria property, when you look at Italy it is quite an expensive country property wise, Calabria is like a new and undiscovered paradise," Carl said.

Calabrian Economy to Benefit from Government Stimulus

The Italian government has earmarked 4million Euros to boost the Sicilian economy, which has been badly affected by the global downturn. The Inter-ministerial Committee for Economic planning (CIPE) has authorised the release of the funds today.

This in itself will be of benefit to the Calabrian economy as well, because of the various links between the two regions, and the likelihood that some of the money flowing round the Sicilian economy will be spent in Calabria.

We can also hope that some of the money will be used to increase tourism to Sicily, again which would indirectly benefit Calabria; possibly people wishing to visit Sicily may stay in Calabrian rental properties, and will almost certainly visit Calabria's sites and beauty.

The 4million is the start of a concentrated campaign to regenerate the various economies of Italy's various regions. The plan is to be unwound after the government's summer recess at which point Calabria will also possibly receive its own stimulus package -- most likely in the form of a bundle of cash.

Calabria Named One of Top Emerging Coastal Regions for Property Investment

Calabria has been named as one of the world's top emerging coastal regions by sector specialists Write About Property. Citing its location and the low prices of property Liam Bailey wrote:

Again Calabria is one of the favourites because of the low priced property and its location. Calabria is a region spanning the south-west of Italy, the heel of the boot. It is surrounded by ocean on three sides, and slopes upward as you go inland. This means that the further you get from the coast the more impressive the view of the coast.

Calabrian property is currently available at a fraction of the cost of Italy's long-popular regions, and is one of (if not) the cheapest place to buy beach property in Italy. It is currently rising in popularity as a tourist destination. At the current occupancy levels 4-6% yields are possible, and these will improve as occupancy rises. Capital appreciation will be 15-20% until prices catch-up with the rest of Italy, and the will slow to the established market average of 8-10%.

I concur with the article, however I would have mentioned that most (if not all) of the properties available to overseas buyers are off plan. Not that this is a problem, but it does mean that you will be looking 2010 being the occupancy year. This could be viewed as a benefit, because tourism has took a knock from the international downturn this year, and next year will be during the recovery.

Another benefit of most of the properties being off plan is the potential that you could get a property that is completed or nearly complete at the discounted price it was offered at off plan. For this type of bargain though, the time to act is now.