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.

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.