2731 Inflated property prices

Hi All,

We are looking to buy a property in Sardinia this year. When viewing properties we have found that the exact same property can vary in price by as much as 25% from estate agent to agent. In one case a property went up by 100k Euro's in an afternoon.

Surely this is not the norm? Has anyone else had similar experiences in Sardinia?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards

Dan

Category
Property Sales/Rental Advice

Hi Dan and welcome to the Forum.

You'll find quite a bit of debate about this issue in the property section, most recently in [url=http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=2435]this[/url] long thread.

Good luck in your search for a house.

Sardinia's a bit of a hot area at the moment.Agents are being greedy try [url]www.myvillainsardinia.com[/url] we have just purchased through them and found them great.Wher are you looking?

Welcome to the forum. Good luck with your property search. Just walk away from the agents/vendors who play the price increase overnight game!!

Dan

In 1887 we searched for a rural property in Kernow and most dilapidated properties were going for £20,000 until rich folk from SE started payin £75,000 - £100,000. It happens everywhere :-( you can't blame the residents for getting a good deal) just crucify the brit middlemen for cheating u.

Dave

Marc..

YNot would be too old to be bitter.. or too wise.. especially if looking for property way back in 1887!

:) :)

[quote=YNot]Dan

In 1887 we searched for a rural property in Kernow and most dilapidated properties were going for £20,000 until rich folk from SE started payin £75,000 - £100,000. It happens everywhere :-( you can't blame the residents for getting a good deal) just crucify the brit middlemen for cheating u.

Dave[/quote]

You must be a) very old and b) extremely rich to have £20,000 back in 1887 Unless you have lost it all in the depression in the 1920's and possibly during the two world wars. I admire your perssistance at still looking for a little piece of happines some 119 years on :eek:

[QUOTE=danrobinson]Hi All,

We are looking to buy a property in Sardinia this year. When viewing properties we have found that the exact same property can vary in price by as much as 25% from estate agent to agent. In one case a property went up by 100k Euro's in an afternoon.

Surely this is not the norm? Has anyone else had similar experiences in Sardinia?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Kind Regards

Dan[/QUOTE]

Hi Dan,

Same thing happened to us... We made an offer on a property in Le Marche which the owner wanted 120K for, and she came back to us by saying she has changed her mind and now wants 200K for it. Ridiculous....

I wish you all the best.

Take care,
Daniela

[QUOTE=jenniec]Hello everyone.

After months of reading the forum and gathering lots of interesting facts and information I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and join in. Having just read your mail about property prices and changes in planning permission in Sardinia, I thought I’d let you know what’s happening with us.

Hubby and I are both in our mid-fifties and are looking forward to relocating to Sardinia when we retire, having spent many happy holidays there over the years as well as making some very good friends (Italian and English) along the way.

Last Spring our Italian friends said they knew of some land for sale so we decided to bite the bullet , and bought just over a hectare ‘in the country’ in the north east of the island between Palau and Arzachena, where hopefully we will be able to build our ‘Casa dei Sogni’.
The sale went through without any problems thanks to our excellent Geometra, Architect and Notaio.

Last August we agreed the plans with our architect who submitted them to the planning department in Sassari, he said that based on previous experience planning permission could take anything up to 9 months. At that time a hectare of land was the minimum amount needed to build a house, but he said that there were rumours that the laws were about to change to stop over-development on the island. He had heard that the minimum amount was going to increase to 3 hectares so he wanted to ensure that our plans were submitted in time, before the new laws were introduced.

During November the local newspaper reported that the new laws had been introduced literally overnight and that 10 hectares was the minimum amount required (!!!) Much confusion and anger followed, as there are over 400 local people waiting for planning permission, who like us only have one hectare of land. No-one seemed to know what was going on at the local town hall but they said that the entire planning department in Sassari had been replaced and the new staff were trying to get to grips with the changes which had been decreed by Cagliari.

In December our architect found out that the law had been changed again, this time from 10 to 5 hectares. It seems a ‘block’ has now been put on the submission of any new plans, whilst they sort out the backlog (which were all submitted whilst the old law was in force ) and decide whether people with one hectare can or cannot build. Apparently they had until the end of February (they didn’t specify which year!) to sort things out.

Our architect has since found out that other laws have also changed and they are no longer allowing houses to have cantinas. He advised us to amend our plans -removing the cantina which we have done. We are not happy about losing this but if this is the only way we can get the permission then we’ve got no choice. Seems they are also rejecting plans that have ‘too many terraces’. They have another 178 plans to review before they get to ours, so we are now waiting with bated breath and fingers crossed hoping we get the permission.

We were there at Christmas and noticed how property prices had shot up since our previous visit in October, and yes we’ve come across the same property being advertised at different prices by different estate agents. Our friends say a lot of local people who had hopes of building their homes on inherited land have had their hopes dashed- its only the lucky few who have 5 hectares, and although there is property around for sale the prices are rocketing.

Anyway- Dan good luck with your search .I look forward to being part of the forum- everyone’s comments , especially Notaio’s have been invaluable.[/QUOTE]
This was probably a gut reaction on the part of the regional government to the urbanistic abuse that the island has been subjected to by the prime minister and his entourage and others associated,the victims,as always here, are the "normal" working people who just want to get on with making their home.

[QUOTE=PAS 55]Sardinia's a bit of a hot area at the moment.Agents are being greedy try [url]www.myvillainsardinia.com[/url] we have just purchased through them and found them great.Wher are you looking?[/QUOTE]
We are looking in and around the Alghero area, why all of a sudden is Sardinia such a hot place to buy? I know they have some changes in the pipeline regarding planning permission but this does this really explain a hike of 30% in prices in the last few months.

Lock forward to your reply.

Theres a freeze on all new build within 2 kilometres of the sea for 2 years also Easyjet now fly to Cagliari(every day twice on saturdays May onwards).

Welcome to the forum jenniec sure you will find it useful and informative as we have done! Sorry to hear about your planning problems in Sardinia, good luck with sorting it all out.

[QUOTE=jenniec]Hello everyone.

After months of reading the forum and gathering lots of interesting facts and information I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and join in. Having just read your mail about property prices and changes in planning permission in Sardinia, I thought I’d let you know what’s happening with us.

Hubby and I are both in our mid-fifties and are looking forward to relocating to Sardinia when we retire, having spent many happy holidays there over the years as well as making some very good friends (Italian and English) along the way.

Last Spring our Italian friends said they knew of some land for sale so we decided to bite the bullet , and bought just over a hectare ‘in the country’ in the north east of the island between Palau and Arzachena, where hopefully we will be able to build our ‘Casa dei Sogni’.
The sale went through without any problems thanks to our excellent Geometra, Architect and Notaio.

Last August we agreed the plans with our architect who submitted them to the planning department in Sassari, he said that based on previous experience planning permission could take anything up to 9 months. At that time a hectare of land was the minimum amount needed to build a house, but he said that there were rumours that the laws were about to change to stop over-development on the island. He had heard that the minimum amount was going to increase to 3 hectares so he wanted to ensure that our plans were submitted in time, before the new laws were introduced.

During November the local newspaper reported that the new laws had been introduced literally overnight and that 10 hectares was the minimum amount required (!!!) Much confusion and anger followed, as there are over 400 local people waiting for planning permission, who like us only have one hectare of land. No-one seemed to know what was going on at the local town hall but they said that the entire planning department in Sassari had been replaced and the new staff were trying to get to grips with the changes which had been decreed by Cagliari.

In December our architect found out that the law had been changed again, this time from 10 to 5 hectares. It seems a ‘block’ has now been put on the submission of any new plans, whilst they sort out the backlog (which were all submitted whilst the old law was in force ) and decide whether people with one hectare can or cannot build. Apparently they had until the end of February (they didn’t specify which year!) to sort things out.

Our architect has since found out that other laws have also changed and they are no longer allowing houses to have cantinas. He advised us to amend our plans -removing the cantina which we have done. We are not happy about losing this but if this is the only way we can get the permission then we’ve got no choice. Seems they are also rejecting plans that have ‘too many terraces’. They have another 178 plans to review before they get to ours, so we are now waiting with bated breath and fingers crossed hoping we get the permission.

We were there at Christmas and noticed how property prices had shot up since our previous visit in October, and yes we’ve come across the same property being advertised at different prices by different estate agents. Our friends say a lot of local people who had hopes of building their homes on inherited land have had their hopes dashed- its only the lucky few who have 5 hectares, and although there is property around for sale the prices are rocketing.

Anyway- Dan good luck with your search .I look forward to being part of the forum- everyone’s comments , especially Notaio’s have been invaluable.[/QUOTE]
Hi Jennie,

We are still looking to buy in Alghero and are concerned about the suggested planning laws and teh impact they have had on teh prices before the rule has even been passed. Have you heard of any news reagrding the change in planning laws since you replied to my earlier message about inflated prices.

Thanks

Dan

Hi Dan

Sorry but we've not heard of any more changes to the planning laws.

We are there at Easter for the week and will be seeing our Architect then to see what progress has been made with our plans- (if any!),so hopefully may be able to give you an update when we get back.

All we know at the moment for definite with new builds is that :- you need a minimum of 5 hectares of land- plus there is a freeze on all new builds (for 2 years ) within 2km of the sea.

We'll check the property prices whilst we are there, to see if there has been any increase since our last visit at Christmas.

Thanks David and Linda - we are there at Easter so are hoping there will be some progress to report - one way or another !

According to our Sard friends it seems the rules are being made up as they go along, so who knows what will happen.

Tanti Saluti

[QUOTE=danrobinson]We are looking in and around the Alghero area, why all of a sudden is Sardinia such a hot place to buy? I know they have some changes in the pipeline regarding planning permission but this does this really explain a hike of 30% in prices in the last few months.

Lock forward to your reply.[/QUOTE]

Hello everyone.

After months of reading the forum and gathering lots of interesting facts and information I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and join in. Having just read your mail about property prices and changes in planning permission in Sardinia, I thought I’d let you know what’s happening with us.

Hubby and I are both in our mid-fifties and are looking forward to relocating to Sardinia when we retire, having spent many happy holidays there over the years as well as making some very good friends (Italian and English) along the way.

Last Spring our Italian friends said they knew of some land for sale so we decided to bite the bullet , and bought just over a hectare ‘in the country’ in the north east of the island between Palau and Arzachena, where hopefully we will be able to build our ‘Casa dei Sogni’.
The sale went through without any problems thanks to our excellent Geometra, Architect and Notaio.

Last August we agreed the plans with our architect who submitted them to the planning department in Sassari, he said that based on previous experience planning permission could take anything up to 9 months. At that time a hectare of land was the minimum amount needed to build a house, but he said that there were rumours that the laws were about to change to stop over-development on the island. He had heard that the minimum amount was going to increase to 3 hectares so he wanted to ensure that our plans were submitted in time, before the new laws were introduced.

During November the local newspaper reported that the new laws had been introduced literally overnight and that 10 hectares was the minimum amount required (!!!) Much confusion and anger followed, as there are over 400 local people waiting for planning permission, who like us only have one hectare of land. No-one seemed to know what was going on at the local town hall but they said that the entire planning department in Sassari had been replaced and the new staff were trying to get to grips with the changes which had been decreed by Cagliari.

In December our architect found out that the law had been changed again, this time from 10 to 5 hectares. It seems a ‘block’ has now been put on the submission of any new plans, whilst they sort out the backlog (which were all submitted whilst the old law was in force ) and decide whether people with one hectare can or cannot build. Apparently they had until the end of February (they didn’t specify which year!) to sort things out.

Our architect has since found out that other laws have also changed and they are no longer allowing houses to have cantinas. He advised us to amend our plans -removing the cantina which we have done. We are not happy about losing this but if this is the only way we can get the permission then we’ve got no choice. Seems they are also rejecting plans that have ‘too many terraces’. They have another 178 plans to review before they get to ours, so we are now waiting with bated breath and fingers crossed hoping we get the permission.

We were there at Christmas and noticed how property prices had shot up since our previous visit in October, and yes we’ve come across the same property being advertised at different prices by different estate agents. Our friends say a lot of local people who had hopes of building their homes on inherited land have had their hopes dashed- its only the lucky few who have 5 hectares, and although there is property around for sale the prices are rocketing.

Anyway- Dan good luck with your search .I look forward to being part of the forum- everyone’s comments , especially Notaio’s have been invaluable.

Hello Jennie

Welcome to the Forum! I'm glad you decided to join us.

Thanks for your post about your current building situation and I wish you luck with having your plans accepted.. before they change the laws again.. and again.. :D

:) :)

Thanks Aliena
I'm sure this story will run and run with many twists and changes along the way-It is Italy afer all...

Crikey. Maybe Adriatica's advice to buy something already existing and habitable is sound after all? :)

Jennie.. allow me to introduce you to Tinks.. aka Wishful Thinker

I hope you will keep us all fully informed about your progress.. or lack of.. si, hai ragione.. questa e' la vita.. in Italia! :D

Tinks.. did you ever doubt Il Mare Adriatico?

:) :)

I'm glad our sales just gone through!!

[QUOTE=YNot]That's what happens when you have 2 screens open and one is the family tree :D :D

Dave[/QUOTE]

Lucky! I can't claim to have a family tree - more like a creeper - the most convoluted genealogy I have ever had to work on was my own!

Still, pity we don't have today's money at 1887's prices...

That's what happens when you have 2 screens open and one is the family tree :D :D

Dave