International would-be home buyers are back in Italy after Covid-19 pandemic thanks to its quality of life
International buyers are still looking for their ideal second home in Italy despite Covid-19 pandemic which gave a boost to the desire of moving and improving their quality of life.
As a matter of fact according to a survey that Gate-away.com – the Italian property portal solely dedicated to overseas investors in Italy – has recently conducted among about 40,000 subscribers to its Newsletter coming from all over the world, in the 70% of case the main reason for which they are interested in buying in the Belpaese is to improve their quality of life.
“Quality of life, mild climate, nature and appealing landscapes are among the strong points that make Italy an ideal destination for holidays, business trips, investments or definitive moves for retirement or a new beginning. - says Simone Rossi, Gate-away.com co-founder - Italy also offers the treasured privacy for those who don't like touristic or crowded places, but who prefer to buy properties a short distance away from them and desire to integrate with the locals”.
Analysing Gate-away.com performances, requests for Italian homes from all over the world increased by 126.65% in 2022 compared to 2019, namely just before the world has been hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
What happened in 2022 – In 2022 the majority of international buyers looking for a second home in Italy through the portal, which gathers about 40,000 properties for sale throughout the whole country, are Americans with 27.62% of all inquiries. This is also due to the dollar which gained value against the Euro during 2022.
They are followed by Germans (14.46%) and British people (8.66%).
What they look for – The majority of requests are for detached houses (75,6%) over apartments, even if the requests for apartments are slightly increasing (+3.14%).
About 67% of the enquiries are for habitable or completely restored houses. A good 20% is related to partially restored or to be completely restored properties. The rest (11%) is for new houses. Features like pool and land are not the most sought-after - but always appreciated if present - but houses with gardens are in great demand (about 60%).
How much they would spend – In 2022 Gate-away.com reports an increase in the investment propensity of international buyers in the luxury property market in Italy: properties in the high bracket which are worth from 500,000 to over 1 Million euros represent about 20% of the requests and this has increased compared to the same period in 2021. The majority of the requests are for properties worth up to 250,000 euros (60%).
Also the property average value for the requested properties is increasing and is now € 539,000.
Where they are searching – The South of Italy registered a boom in requests. Tuscany is still the ‘queen’ amongst the Italian regions with 19,03% of all inquiries with Fivizzano and Lucca in the top 3 of the most requested Italian towns, respectively in second and third place. It is followed by Lombardy (12%). Liguria is in third position (8,45%) and Puglia (7,66%) in fourth position with Ostuni as the most sought-after town of Italy.
A special mention goes also to the islands of Sicily in 6th position and Sardinia in 9th position that are the regions which grew the most compared to 2021 in this top 10 with +12.55% and +27.52% respectively.
As a matter of fact, the south of Italy is attracting more interested from overseas with their typical properties like the dammuso (+30%) and baglio (+68%) in Sicily, and the lamia (+13%) and masseria (+7%) in Puglia, which registered a boom in requests.
Pachino in Sicily is the town who grew the most in 2022 compared to 2021 with +881%. It is followed by Calasetta and Badesi in Sardinia with +772% and +520% respectively.