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.

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 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.