Flashes of high style in Italy's small towns

PESARO, Italy: In this small town on Italy's Adriatic coast, the owner of the Ratti boutique is thumbing through the freshly minted Balmains and Balenciagas with a hand that has felt its fair share of crepe de chine.

"Bring this to Giovanna's mother!" Silvana Ratti happily exclaims, plucking a thigh-grazing Marchesa chiffon number off the racks. An obliging saleswoman, one of the 78 immaculately groomed who live to serve on Ratti's gilded floors, trots off with the costly confection in search of someone's mother.

Although it boasts prime beachfront real estate, Pesaro has never been one of Italy's great travel destinations. It does not offer the booming nightlife of Rimini. It does not have the posh hotels and crystal waters of Portofino. The town, with its 80,000 inhabitants, is a classic example of the Italian province.

The central Rome apartment comes at a 20 percent discount

The worst recession since 1975 is eroding the wealth of elderly Italians and requiring them to do something they had never before considered: sell family homes to strangers at a discount on the condition that they can stay on until they die.

The cash transactions are called "nude sales" in Italy because in most cases the owners are stripped of ownership while retaining use of the property until they die. While they account for only 5 percent of Italian sales, they represent one of the few boom areas as the slump deepens.

"Italians are house-rich but cash-poor, so you do the math," says Mario Corsini, president of the nonprofit association Housing and the Elderly, which advises pensioners on housing. "This is one way for them to beef up their income and stay in their homes."

A drop in euro may boost Spain market

This is because super-prime properties, those worth 1 million Ğ in this case Ğ euros or more tend to grow in value quickest during a boom, and will grow in value quickest during the next boom. The recovery will instantaneously restore these properties to their true value. Super-prime properties also give their owners the opportunity to make money during the credit-crunch, because they are some of the most sought after properties in the world, and people can see the opportunity of getting them at a reduced priced.

On top of the drop in prices caused by the credit-crunch, those eyeing a property in Spain can also take advantage of the growing foreclosure market. This currently gives buyers the opportunity to pick up a property at half its valuation price, but if the euro drops later this year that will increase to 75 percent. Though, that will probably be too late at the rate foreclosed properties sell, and will depend on recent foreclosures at the time.

No doubt the other destinations most popular with British holiday makers will also benefit, namely Italy and France, but Turkey and Greece, growing in popularity over the last few years, are also likely to see a massive upturn in sales.

FINRA, Northern Trust, Mission Capital, others

CORDEA SAVILLS

Cordea Savills, an international property fund manager,
appointed Piergiulio Dentice di Accadia and Daniele Martignetti
as portfolio managers. Accadia joined from CB Richard Ellis
Investors SGRpA, where he worked as a senior asset manager, and
Martignetti came from Pirelli Real Estate in Italy and
Germany.

Croatia Real Estate: The Mediterranean As It Once Was

Just a little more than a decade ago, Croatia was just one of the provinces of Yugoslavia embroiled in a ferocious civil war. Few could have guessed that Croatia would become a popular tourist destination once the confict ceased. Now, with the slogan, "The Mediterranean as it once was," the country bills itself as an alternative destination to its more developed and better known Western European counterparts, such as Greece and Italy.

Tourists seem to have gotten the message and are flocking to the country. Second home buyers and property investors have taken note too and have their eyes on Croatia's unspoiled coast. In recent years, locals have taken seriousy the preservation of the stunning beauty of coastal towns, such as historic Dubrovnic, and the classic architecture of larger cities—which ranges from medieval to art nouveau in the capital, Zagreb.

New Property in Italy from Azure Overseas

Calabria was just beginning to finalise its entrance as a destination for property investment when the credit-crunch became an unavoidable reality and everyone became terrified to speak a positive word about property investment anywhere. This means Calabria still has all the strengths it had then. Calabria is a relatively virgin market, and while it saw many new developments in 2008, it is still what you would call very under-developed when looked at in the context of just how rapidly tourism is rising.

"Beach-front developments like the Pizzo Beach Club are particularly popular. But Calabria's virgin status when it comes to development also translates to its tourism market, so rental yields are currently only in the 4-6% bracket, but this is expected to climb to the 6-8 or possible even the 8-10% bracket in the next 3-4 years depending on how quickly the credit crunch lets up. The Pizzo Beach Club's proximity to a Club Med resort means the properties could fetch higher rental yields if properly marketed, or if arrangements can be made with the Club Med resort administration."