The rise of Calabria
The once backward region in the very south of continental Italy, near the islands and not far from the northern shores of Africa, has turned into one of the most promising European real estate markets in a couple of years. Now Calabria is associated primarily with a mild climate, long sea coasts, the thermal resort of Terme Luigiana and the ski centers of Camigliatello Silano and Monte Sirino.
The potential of Calabria, this kingdom of oranges and bergamot, half of whose population is engaged in agriculture, was appreciated by developers only when it entered the EU regional support program. Today, more than 1 billion euros have been invested in improving infrastructure and developing tourist services at local resorts; an airport, new entertainment centers and hotels have appeared here. As a result, the price of some properties has soared by almost 100% in three years – and this is in Europe, where a 5-7% increase in the value of real estate is considered a good indicator.
"The terrain here is quite difficult, mountainous," comments the director of RER Ltd. Sergey Gryaznov. "Thanks to this, it is possible to build complexes in which all apartments have sea views." According to Clifford Capital, today two-bedroom apartments on the first line of the sea, next to a sandy beach, can be purchased for 170,000-200,000 euros.
Like many areas that have become popular in just a few years, Calabria was discovered as a real estate market by British investors. Therefore, the developers initially focused on the tastes of customers from England, who were looking for "real Italy" here at low prices. In 2007, Jack Hamilton, managing director of Parador Properties, assessed Calabria in an interview with the Sunday Express: "Investors find real Italy here with its beautiful old villages, piazzos (courtyards) and hospitable residents, and they don't need anything else." Sergey Gryaznov recalls that at that time houses in Calabria were slightly more expensive than Bulgaria. Today, the situation is different: buyers are aiming for new housing in complexes with their own infrastructure and are willing to pay more, although prices remain very low compared to more popular areas of the country.
For example, Clifford Capital offers apartments in the Le Terraza di Pizzo complex under construction for 73,500 euros. The housing area is 72 sq. m., the Windows overlook the Tyrrhenian Sea, the complex has a swimming pool and a garden, one of the best European resorts of Tropea is half an hour away.
Holiday properties are in the greatest demand in Calabria, the second houses, which in Italy are called seconda casa, are country houses and housing on the coast. An option that is convenient for recreation and rental is new protected complexes. "As a rule, these are small two–storey houses with several apartments, each of which has a separate entrance," says Ekaterina Bukova, CEO of Clifford Capital. – Apartments on the ground floors are sold with small front gardens, on the second floors – with solariums." At seconda casa, the owners can live for several months of the year and rent them out during their absence. According to Clifford Capital, the average annual income from renting out such apartments is about 10-12%.
Such a different Sicily
Russian buyers of Italian second homes often choose Sardinia and Sicily. At the same time, the islands differ markedly – both in lifestyle and in the nature of real estate offers.
Sicily, located in the very center of the Mediterranean Sea, between Europe and Africa, has served as a bone of contention for many peoples since ancient times. The island changed hands, from the Greeks to the Romans, Arabs, Normans, and each nation added its own ingredient to the multicultural Sicilian cocktail.
The largest cities in Sicily are Palermo with a population of about 700,000 people in the southwest of the island, Catania in the eastern part and Messina in the northeast, on the shores of the Strait of Messina. There is a ferry from the mainland to Sicily, and recently the Italian government has again announced the start of construction of a bridge across the strait.
The real estate market in Sicily is very democratic, there is a wide variety of offers in the middle price segment and economy class, but you can also find luxury housing.
For example, a one–bedroom apartment near the city of Syracuse is offered for 110,000 euros, a four-bedroom house near the beach of Noto for 430,000 euros, and a private island near Taormina, on which there are two houses requiring renovation, for 3 million euros.
In Sicily, villettes are very popular – traditional Italian houses of a small area, which today are often combined into residential complexes with a communal pool, and sometimes a private beach.
For example, on the northeast coast, which is also called Costa Saracena, equidistant from Catania and Syracuse, sales of ready-made villettes with an area of 100-120 square meters opened in May. m with three bedrooms. The cost of houses varies from 98,000 to 135,000 euros. Villettes with an area of 150-180 sq. m. apartments in Letoyanni, a resort town in the east of Sicily, at the last stage of construction cost from 395,000 to 495,000 euros. In large cities, housing prices are slightly higher: four-bedroom apartments in the center of Catania, near the Corso Italia boutique street, can be bought for 460,000 euros.
Prestigious Sardinia
"Of course, some of the buyers who could have chosen Sicily will now prefer Calabria," says Sergey Gryaznov. – Transport accessibility played a role: after all, Calabria is located on the mainland, and you still need to get to Sicily. Sardinia is another matter: Calabria cannot compete with it, because there are completely different customers here."
Sardinia is an island of luxury villas, mostly not new, which have already changed several owners. The prices of real estate on the beaches of Sardinia can be compared with the area of Lake Maggiore. In Sardinia, purchases of high-status housing are made. At various times, the owners of local villas were members of the Berlusconi family, Giorgio Armani, Madonna, Adriano Celentano, Tom Cruise, Hugh Grant and Liz Hurley like to relax here.
The climate and nature of Sardinia are not too different from that of Sicily, except that Sardinia lies outside the zone of seismic activity. The proximity of the Cote d'Azur plays a much greater role, as well as the impeccable reputation of these places.
However, apparently, the governor of Sardinia, Hugo Cappelacci, considered the steady demand for expensive villas insufficient. In an effort to increase the tourist and investment attractiveness, he announced the possible lifting of the ban on the construction of the first coastline. This can really shake up the island's real estate market and change the familiar look of its most prestigious, northern coast – the Costa Smeralda.
Olga Belyakova, sales manager at the Russian market of the Arcipelago Immobiliare agency, referring to official statistics, says that in general, real estate prices in Italy have decreased by 7-7.5% in recent months. Undoubtedly, this has also affected Sardinia, but there is no reason to count on a significant decrease in interest in housing next door to celebrities. Currently, prices for prestigious villas on the Costa Smeralda start from 3 million euros, and for apartments in suburban complexes with private beaches and pools - from 200,000 euros.
"If we understand the prospect of increasing the invested money by the benefit of the purchase, then the purchase of housing in Sardinia in the coastal zone will always be profitable," says Olga Belyakova. – Prices here, if they are not growing as actively as before, then they are not falling. You can enter the market with a small capital by buying a secondary property in need of restoration. Strangely enough, it is now becoming profitable to buy agricultural enterprises, for example vineyards with wine production, fish farming enterprises... It is worth paying attention to the resort properties in the cities of Villasimius, Costa Rey, Chia, and in the south of the island - in the coastal city of Pula, as well as on the southwestern coast of the island, where prices are quite comparable with the prices of Calabria."
