Hi All,


I have recently bought an apartment in Calabria, southern Italy and am keen to hear what others have to say on this market from an investment point of view.

Prices are very low, for less than 100k I was able to buy a beautiful penthouse apartment with sea views right on the beach. If anyone wants to know more have a look at a company called First Step Abroad, development Jewel of the Sea in Calabria. I was hesitant at first, everyone is touting it as the newest emerging market with yields close to 10%. I went on a free visit paid by the agent (which concerned me as well), however I was pleasantly surprised with how beautiful the area was and the location of the site. The security was there as in Italy all new builds have to have bank guarantees in place so that wasn't an issue.

An article in the Sunday Times prompted me to have a look at Calabria, have a look at:

http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life...icle1272117.ece

If anyone else has bought in Calabria or Jewel of the Sea resort, I would like to hear your comments.

SD

Watch out for the mafia, spicy food and super-strength wines.

What kind of muppet makes an investment, then asks for other people's opinions on the investment they are already committed to?


Do you have greater hopes for your new job selling Italian properdee?

someone who calls himself 'The wise one'

Will you make a mint? Will you lose your shirt? Difficult to be completely accurate.
Look at it this way, if it all goes wrong you will still have an apartment in a beautiful part of the world to spend your holidays in - What price are you prepared to put on that?
The area is lovely, with great prospects, probably a great future. As for your particular investment and what you want out of it - well you've already judged that and gawn and done it mate, now you must live with the consequences of that decision.
You have not done much in the way of research. The Med games are due to be held there some time soon and the infrastructure is having money thrown at it. Pescara is now an established air route. The omens, my friend are good, this time you've probably been lucky. Please next time, if there is to be one, research more thoroughly.

The wise one,
It seems in my early onset senility I may have misinformed you here and I apologize most grovelingly. The area to which I'm referring is, of course Abruzzo and not Calabria. Have you thought of taking a butchers at Abruzzo?
However much of what I said is as true for Calabria and other areas of Southern Italy. Don't rule out Sicily which in my mind is a better investment than Calabria, go over, take a look and see for yourself. Once again sorry for any confusion caused.

Hi

I'm currently looking at a development in Lamezia, Calabria by Qualta Real Estate, being marketed by Property Showrooms. The devlopment is Villa dell Olivara with 2 bed 2 bath appartments 5 mins from beach & golf.

it looks good but i would be interested to hear of any opinions or experiences re Qualta &/or PropertyShowrooms, and that particular area, before i plan a visit.

many thanks.

wise one ignre the pesimists on here

glad you mentioned Calabria as i was interested in it myself

you can forgive the guys for their reluctance to take it at face value as there are a lot of agents here flogging stuff and it is a little strange that you look for advise AFTER you purchased

anyway regardless, any info or any usefule websites you have would be useful. Italy is beautiful, and at those prices i cant see how one can go wrong. If bad comes to worse somehwre nice for me and the wife to hang out

im sure you can get apartments for as little as £60k or so?

thanks for your help in advance

Hi Anthony7

It doesn't bother me what people say. I was asking for advice because I was considering buying another property there.

Calabria is a great place to invest. Its unspoilt and very cheap compared to the rest of Italy. The airlines only started flying in direct from London last year and now days every Ryanair flight going to Lamezia is full. You can probably get a 2 bed apartment thats close to the beach for £60k.

I believe the resort where I have bought is almost sold out, but you should be able to find plenty of alternatives. Western side of Calabria is more developed and perhaps industrial in places. Along the southern coast, it is less developed but plenty of nice sandy beaches. If you are buying for investment look at a development which is close to a golf course as that will extend your rental season. For the time being the only rental season is July and August when the Italians take their holidays. As the area emerges and develops this will change and that is why you prices are still low. The weather is comparable to Spain's Costa Blanca, although in the winter it tends to rain more so than in Spain. Realistically you should be able to rent an apartment out from March to November.

Sicily is also beautiful and I am currently looking at buying a new apartment there. Although it is more expensive, it is also more established and attracts tourists not just from Europe but also the USA.

There are a number of agents promoting Calabria and Sicily. Check out First Step Abroad, The Right Move Abroad, Overseas Property Plus etc...

If you are planning on going soon, look out for a deal that offers free inspection visits as flights and hotels in the summer are very expensive.

Hope this helps

SD

Calabria has good beaches and affordable interesting old houses and villages.

BUT right now it is 44 degrees - which is too hot.

The reason it is cheap is that few Italians from outside Calabria have places there.

The money from the north, Turin, Milan, Modena - those people all go to la Spezia, Cinqueterre etc or on the other side near Ancona.

This I think is the main difference with Calabria - many areas in Italy are sought after by Italians and foreigners alike, ie Lucca, Asti, the lakes, Tuscany, etc.

When you buy somewhere like Calabria you need to make sure that you are not getting ripped off.

About a year ago I viewed an old house near Pontremoli (edge of Tuscany).

It was on with 2 different agents and one of them had it on at 50K more than the other.

Caveat emptor. Remember that there is not much of a culture of property speculation in Italy and I think that it is best to buy in an area that is supported by interest from Italians themselves.

But the Brits might buy the speculated properties, aren't they? As they did everywhere in the world recently? Or the MEW runs dry?

I agreed with the article. Calabria is considered the main emerging area of Italy due to its low prices and beautiful lands. Many experts predict substantial increases in the coming years as the region is being visited by a growing number of tourists from all over Europe every year. In fact Calabria is expected to become more and more popular in the future thanks to the recent launch of direct flights to the region.
I if you need more information about Calabria, you can contact me by this site or by my skype account (Greenitaly).
Otherwise you can also visit this page:
http://nuke.greenitalyre.com/Destinations/...76/Default.aspx

Sincerely,
Andrea

It's an odd place for italian EAs to come to try and talk up a market and sell property, but nice try anyway.