Words by Carla Passino
Stability is the name of the game in Veneto’s most sought after areas. Although demand decreased following the economic downturn, a limited supply means prices remain steady. However, proceedable buyers may find greater scope for negotiation than in the near past, according to Veneto specialist Andrea Redivo Zaglia of Properties in Italy estate agents.
In the years of the boom, international interest in the north-eastern region widened beyond Venice - always a hotspot - to areas that, until then, were the preserve of Italian property buyers, such as the Colli Euganei.
Then the credit crunch hit, and demand contracted.
“The trend, in Italy like in Veneto, points to a stability or reduction of asking prices, but in practice there is more room to negotiate during the sale process, mirroring a general decline in demand,” Redivo says.
Values, he adds, remained particularly solid in popular areas such as Venice and the Colli Euganei.
“Venice is always an exception,” Redivo explains. “Prices just don’t decrease here - at best they don’t increase.”
Values went up by 6% a year in the last ten years, and are now “more or less stable until the crisis is over,” he explains. This makes a property purchase in the Lagoon city a reasonably safe investment, provided you pay a realistic price for your home in the first place.
To give prospective purchasers a steer, Redivo quotes figures of €250,000 to €500,000 for a studio or one-bedroom flat, and from €300,000 for a two-bedroom flat though, he adds, “€450,000 is more realistic and you can go up to €1m for top locations.” For flats on the Canal Grande, the sky is the limit - Redivo advises to budget some €15,000 per square metre.
That said, buying a property now may prove particularly advantageous because, these days, even in Venice “you can certainly negotiate more than in the past.” Among the city’s many neighbourhoods, Redivo says he sold plenty of homes on the island of Giudecca, which has some ultramodern new builds. “People like them because they are new, but still in Venice.”
But he also recommends considering Dorsoduro “because it is beautiful, full of character and not too touristy, but with enormous potential for short lets.” Just now, for example, the company is selling a two-bedroom ground floor flat with charming canal views that would be ideal for holiday lettings. The asking price is a ‘very interesting’ €285,000.
Out in the countryside, the market is just as solid in the Colli Euganei, a verdant expanse peppered with sinuous hills, tidy vineyards and medieval villages.
“The Colli Euganei are a regional park where new builds are strictly forbidden, so even if property demand decreases, prices remain stable,” Redivo explains.
Values here grew in the region of 5%-10% a year for the last 10 years, particularly for properties that rarely come to the market, such as beautiful rustici ripe for renovation - and they remain unchanged now.
Homes for sale range from apartments to villas, rustici and historic homes, and prospective buyers can expect to pay from €150,000 for a two-bedroom flat or a rustico in need of renovation, and from €250,000-300,000 for a renovated one. Among the best areas to look at, Redivo suggests the Colli’s central and southern reaches, which have a fascinating, unspoiled landscape and fewer properties.
For more information on Venice and the Colli Euganei, visit Properties in Italy's account.
The company will also attend the Dolce Vita Show in London, sharing stand P37 with Studio Legale De Benetti & Co.
Venice will be the setting for the next Tourism Real Estate, which takes place at the Arsenal from 15 to 18 April 2010. For more details, visit www.tre-expo.com.
