Bargain of the week.
Naturally the credit squeeze has its repercussions here in Italy too, although not quite in the same fashion as in USA and UK. Quite by chance we were out with friends last evening in a local restaurant and the waiter happened to tell us that he's lived for twelve years in Florida, had a house there and was a typical victim of the financial disaster that had hit the housing market in the USA; he'd taken a mortgage at a low rate of interest, which had doubled whilst the value of his house had dropped by 25%. Couldn't sell it either.
Not quite the same here. Principally because the sub-prime mortgage option was never available; and what's more it was/is never easy to get a mortgage here, in that a high deposit was/is always necessary (usually 25%) plus exhaustive scrutiny of an applicant's income. I remember until only recently how I used to condemn the stringency of the Italian system and boast how easy it was in UK to get a mortgage...not any more I don't.
To sum up the real estate situation here currently, however, I would say that the Italian property market is just about static in terms of inflation. The international market, however, is following the age-old principles of supply and demand. There is a glut of property (and I'm talking about the sort that foreigners buy here in Le Marche) and very few buyers. Any property selling is where offers have been made and accepted at about 12.5% less than asking price.
It's a buyer's market indeed...and here's an example; a pretty cottage near Force where the owner has dropped the price by 10%.
You can find it ref 5171 on our site www.lilianapivato.com













You can see the sea from the house