Tourist trade could make buying property in Italy worthwhile

“After 10 years of significant run-up in prices in major markets and sought-after country properties, prices now have leveled,” according to Carroll. Properties in both rural and urban areas can prove profitable, though Property-Abroad.com states that properties in rural regions of Italy have been especially popular in recent years.

Apartments are a popular choice when purchasing property in one of the larger cities, such as Rome or Milan. Apartments in areas such as Sardinia, Venice, Sicily, Milan and Florence are all popular Italian real estate among foreign investors, according to Property-Abroad.com. For those looking to cash in on the tourist industry, Carroll said that areas such as Sicily, Puglia and Campania are particularly attractive for investment.

Almost 80 per cent of households in Italy own their property

While we are on the subject, let's lay to rest a few myths. The first is that Britain has a high level of home-ownership while the majority of our European neighbours are content to rent. Almost 80 per cent of households in Spain and Italy own their property. The shares in France and Germany are hardly low at about 63 per cent and 43 per cent respectively.

The second is that buying always makes more sense economically than renting. In many parts of the country, it is cheaper to rent than to buy, certainly over a two- to five-year period. Simply put, it is quite easy to find a property where the monthly rent is less than the mortgage interest.

Italy offers to subsidise 30% of direct UAE investments

The Italians offered 15 tourism-related and five logistics investments. They were speaking to representatives of top Abu Dhabi companies Mub-adala Development, Sorouh Real Estate, Aldar Properties, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi National Energy and First Gulf Bank.

The projects include commercial and cruise ports in the north and south of Italy.

Italian real estate company Beni Stabili

"We invested in Beni Stabili to create value, not to lose it," the Italian company's chairman Cristophe Kullmann told an analysts' presentation.

"We had until April 30 to decide, but we have recognised that we cannot do it in 2008. We'll see what the market conditions are at the end of the year to decide on 2009," Kullmann added.

Rural Italy Proves Itself on the Property Investment Market

Bevagna is a largely unrealised rural area of Italy and hosts massive development potential, especially in light of the fact that such opportunities are becoming increasingly popular, particularly for British investors. With its close proximity to the nearest beach, investments in the area are surely going to prove financially rewarding. Italy’s government provide special incentives for potential foreign buyers and reduced restrictions have certainly encouraged investment. Whether its financial or recreational reward you’re looking for, San petro offers an abundance of either for any investor.

MORTGAGE DEMAND DROPPED IN LATE 2007

Mortgage demand from families wanting to buy houses dropped in the fourth quarter of 2007. This was reported by the ECB in its monthly bulletin, referring to a survey on banking credit in the euro zone by the Eurosystem in which a stiffening up of criteria for granting families loans was seen. "Over the past three months banks have signaled that criteria for granting loans to families have become even more rigid (21pct from 12pct in the previous survey)." This situation reflects the "deterioration of conditions on financial markets and the drop, compared with the previous quarter, both in expectations for general economic activity and market prospects for residential real estate."

Pirelli acquires 1 pct of shares in Pirelli real estate

Pirelli & C SpA has acquired 10.8 mln eur of shares in its unit Pirelli & C Real Estate SpA on the market, equivalent to about 1 pct, said Pirelli RE.

According to stock market regulator Consob, Pirelli already controls 55.1 pct of Pirelli RE, including Pirelli RE's own share stake of 2.7 pct.

Intesa Sanpaolo Plans to List Real Estate Fund

Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy's biggest retail bank with about 6,100 branches, said the real estate fund held 285 buildings totaling 471,500 square meters. Many of them are used by retail bank branches, most in central Rome and Milan.

SIIQs, the Italian version of real estate investment trusts, are an innovation in the country and have tax advantages for investors.

GIC and ING in $593m Italian retail property buy

GIC Real Estate, the property arm of the Government of Singapore, said on Tuesday they bought the Roma Est Shopping Centre for 400 million euros ($592.5 million) in Italy's record single-asset retail property deal.

Each party has bought a 50 percent stake in the property from Italian food-retailing leader Gruppo PAM.

Pirelli RE to bid for real estate funds

According to the daily, UniCredit's objective is not to sell the funds controlled by Pioneer but to find a partner with whom to develop and grow the real estate business.

UniCredit will retain a minority share in the asset management company that will take over the funds with a stake that will be defined when the closing of the deal is made, the daily said.