British home buyers are most keen on living “the sweet life” as UK requests for Italian properties hit a new record in the first half of 2015, according to figures from Gate-Away.com.
The most sought-after properties are free-standing houses with at least two or three rooms and a garden is among the most-treasured features of the UK buyers.
Puglia is the most preferred region for a purchase and Tuscany is a close second. Abruzzo, Piedmont and Liguria are next in line to make up the top 5 most sought-after regions, while Sardinia, Umbria, Lombardy, the Marche and Sicily complete the top 10 list compiled by Gate-away.com according to data from the 2015 first-half report.
“The average value of properties of interest to British buyers is currently €308,000,” Simone Rossi, commercial director of Gate-Away.com, comments “with an increase of 47 per cent, partly due to the favourable exchange rate with the British Pound. In 2014 this value was €210,000.00. Such a remarkable increase shows a decisive inclination towards investment: our figures show that almost 70% of the requests from the United Kingdom are for properties under €250,000.00, but the luxury real estate market continues to hold its ground with almost 12 per cent of requests”.
Already in 2014 British buyers earned the title of the “Most passionate about Italy”, pushing Americans out of lead position. In 2015 the Italian fever kept rising (+57 per cent), increasing Britain’s lead on the USA. Other than Britain and America, the top 10 list of countries interested in Italy sees Germany in third place, followed by France, Belgium, Holland and Canada. Australia, Sweden and Ireland respectively occupy the last three positions.
Even though Great Britain has claimed first place for the number of requests registered on Gate-Away.com, the available budget is still inferior to the average value of real estate requested by Americans (€335,000.00), the French (€370,000.00) or Germans (€450,000.00).
“The truth is that the British have more opportunities to undertake renovation projects on their properties”, Walter Di Martino, marketing manager for Gate-Away.com says, “so they buy for less but invest much more in the reorganization and renovation of public establishments, or in the careful restoration of characteristic real estate”.
