Irina Alexandrova, founder of Kalinka Immobiliare Srl agency told portal ee24.com about recent trends on the Italian property market.
Real estate in Sardinia: prices have fallen, but it is difficult to sell
In the past 2 years Sardinia subsided greatly. The volume of sales decreased and prices fell by an average of 20-30%. This is a very significant decline for Sardinia, which has always been a leader in luxury real estate market and was reputed to be an attractive region for the rich Russians.
Moreover, the Russians sell their villas in Sardinia. But not many people buy such real estate for €10 million and more. I have a client who has been selling his villa in Porto Cervo for 3 years, I publish it everywhere, but there have not been any requests. Expensive luxury properties in Italy are no longer in demand.
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"The Russians sell their villas in Sardinia. But not many people buy such real estate for €10 million and more"
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Sardinia is known for its quite harsh climate, this island is very windy, and really hot summer weather is only in July and August. Strong winds start in September, and they can last for weeks – locals know about it. Winter is very unpleasant, rainy and windy. Temperature does not fall below zero, but strong wind and rain, in my opinion, are even worse than cold.
In Sardinia there is a beautiful coastline and beautiful sea. But for elite tourism the island is developed only in the northern part. The rest а the island is sun-baked plains alternating with rocky hills with grazing sheep and cows, and only the coastline in the south has local tourist development.
Порто-Черво, Сардиния
Property in Liguria: despite the crisis, people buy even now
Our agency works with all Italy, but it is based in Liguria, San Remo. Our customers love these places since XIX century, when the Russian aristocracy came here to have rest. Despite the crisis, interest in buying and renting did not fall. In Liguria clients usually ask about San Remo and Alassio, because there are good wide sandy beaches – a rarity for this region. But in winter the small pretty town of Alassio dies off while in San Remo life does not stop all year round.
For €400,000-500,000 you can buy an apartment of 100-130 sq. m in good condition, or in a new house. It is absolutely marketable housing in a nice area close to the sea, and the owner will always be able to sell it quickly or rent out. Three of the most marketable districts for purchasing both private and commercial properties in San Remo are Corso Imperatrice, Chiese Russa and our main pedestrian street of Via Mateotti where all the popular restaurants and boutiques are located.
San Remo, Liguria, Italy
Last year there were a lot of requests for villas. People with budget of €1 million prefer not apartments, but villas with pools and private land plots. Speaking about villas, I mean San Remo and surrounding areas, where the average size of a house is 250 sq. m, and where, as a rule, there are a swimming pool and 0.2 hectares of land. Average price of such properties is €1.5 million. As now in Italy there is a remarkable crisis, the sellers of these villas are ready to lower the price if there is demand. But in general there is no noticeable drop in prices in the market, but during individual negotiations, they can be significantly reduced.
In addition to apartments and villas, now there are more requests for cottages in private settlements. I concluded that in Italy there is a lack of private residences where you can feel comfortable and safe, and where there would be some kind of mini-infrastructure: a playground, a shop, a restaurant, a swimming pool. Moreover, there are no such properties in Italy, except, perhaps, the island of Albarella and Trieste area, where a mini-city has been recently built on the coast, where there is a security, and necessary infrastructure. But that is another story. Such properties are not a leading light for me. In my opinion, such offers should be in every region of Italy, where there is a coastline, but it is not like that.
Alassio
Love between Italy and Russia: chemical level
Ordinary Italians are far from politics, as well as all other Europeans. But I can say that in the light of recent events the Italians fear the outflow of tourists and investments from Russia, because practically only the Russians buy real estate now (however, the Arabs and the Chinese are quite active too). I think that Italian economy is supported by foreigners.
Formally, Italy is to support all the negative EU initiative in relation to Russia, but Italy does not want to introduce its own sanctions. So I think that the Russians will continue to come and buy real estate, whatever political and economic issues between the two countries could appear. I think, love between Russia and Italy is something on the level of chemistry.
Interview: Pavel Kuznetsov, ee24.com