Russian Buyers Overtake Brits to Dominate Calabria Property Market

According to Calabria property agents based in Calabria and the UK, Russian, Eastern European and Scandinavian buyers have increased in volume so much lately, that they have almost completely filled the void left by the exodus of British buyers.

According to Calabrian-Property.com it is Russian buyers in particular who have become the dominant force in the Calabrian property market in recent months.

Reports of increasing numbers of Russians buying property around the world began in mid-2008. Not that Russian buyers never bought overseas property before then, but that it when they began to become so numerous that UK overseas agents began to hire Russian translators and advertise on the Russian portals.

However, activity from Russian buyers died pretty much the same death as that of British buyers, but it seems that it was predominantly fear, rather than new-found financial constraints, that was stopping the majority of Russian's from buying. Now that fears over how bad the crash will get internationally are subsiding it seems that Russian buyers are back out there in force.

That being said, it does seem to be a different breed of Russian buyer that is currently active: during the boom years Russian's were becoming famous for buying multi-million pound mansions on the French Riviera and football clubs the size of Chelsea. Calabria on the other hand is known for its low-cost high-value properties.

Calabria is also becoming known as having a large proportion of privately owned holiday homes, within the total tourism accommodation infrastructure. It is unclear what the Russian buyers will mean in that equation.

Calabrian Property to Benefit from Changing Trends

Calabrian property is set to benefit from increasing tourism levels in 2010. According to a new survey on tourism by Eurobarometer, only 20% of over 30,000 randomly selected EU citizens are planning not to travel this year, compared to 31% last year. The survey also found that some 57% of those intending to travel will be sticking to Europe’s established tourist destinations.

Specifically the survey found that Italy was the third most popular destination with 9.2% of those who have chosen a destination planning to travel to Italy. 17% of respondents have not yet chosen a destination.

Of further benefit to Calabrian property owners, and its investment potential was the fact that the survey also found that the number of people arranging their own holidays increased again in 2009, to 58%.

In Calabria, privately let properties make up for a large proportion of tourist accommodation stocks. Needless to say the popularity of Italy as a tourist destination, coupled with the rising number of people putting together their own holiday packages, is going to generate substantial exposure and revenues for Calabrian rental properties in the coming months and years.

Calabrian Property to Benefit from Increasing Private Rentals

Savills have just released data from the largest ever survey of British overseas holiday home owners to the Daily Telegraph.

For us the most important finding is that bookings for privately rented properties increased in 2009 compared to 2008. Because 2009 was still a depressed year for international travel, this can be interpreted as proof that more people are putting together their own package holidays using the internet.

This is great news for the Calabria property market, which has huge potential as a holiday home destination. Calabria is one of the most beautiful coastal regions in the world, but it is relatively undeveloped.

Sloping upwards from the sea almost all properties have sea-views, and with Spain as a clear example of the damage over-development can do, Calabria is set to become one of the world’s top tourism spots for a peaceful break by the sea.

Because the tourism market is developing at the same time as the overseas property market, practically all the tourism accommodation inventory is/will be privately owned. This presents a great opportunity for Calabria property owners.

Want to be one of them? View Calabria property for sale

Coast Avoids Damage from Calabria Landslides – One thing that Didn’t Slide is Property Prices

By now most of you will have heard about the devastating landslides that hit Calabria and Sicily in the last few days. Anyone who had been considering buying Calabria property will be glad to hear that the new developments were mostly on the coasts, which has avoided any damage from the landslides.

One thing that didn’t slide in Calabria is property prices. Incredibly enough, despite demand having fallen since the 3rd quarter of 2008, developers and agents have held firm on prices.

This is thought to have been because, while demand dropped, there was still a constant trickle of lifestyle buyers keeping the market going.

Now, as we move into 2010, and demand for overseas property grows around the world; with agents reporting several sales per week in most tourist hotspots including parts of Spain, there is even a likelihood that Calabria property prices may start to rise before the end of the year.

Calabria Property to See Sales Surge in Coming Weeks

Around the world agents are reporting increased activity from overseas property buyers. Calabria has long been forecast to be among the first to benefit, and now an expert on the market is predicting a sales surge in the coming weeks and months.

“Calabria is a new emerging market within the established market of Italy, so it benefits from the safety of an established market, with the value for money and growth potential of an emerging market. A combination of that reality, and the fact that Italian property has proven resilient to the downturn, will cause a sales surge from today’s researching brand of buyer,” said Robert Davies, a spokesperson for Calabrian-Property.com.

Calabria property started to see new developments springing up and began rising in popularity as an overseas destination in 2006/07. It continued growing in popularity throughout 2008, at which point demand slid badly.

None the less the development’s continued to be built and there are now some fantastic opportunities to buy completed properties at off plan prices.

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 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.