Puglia market shows signs of recovery

The Puglia property market is picking up momentum, according to a recent report by local estate agent Immobiliare Rubino.
The study analysed demand and supply for resale homes in seven Puglia locations—Bari, Barletta, Casamassima, Modugno, Monopoli and Lecce—for the second half of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009. The data shows that the first months of the new year saw a good performance and a newly positive trend.
“It is too early to talk of a proper recovery but the resale market is sending some positive signals,” states the Rubino report.
In Bari—Puglia’s regional capital—property values are stable, the gap between asking prices and offers is in the region of 10-15%, and sale times average five to six months.
“Our data shows that, today, Bari’s resale homes sell at an average €2,800 to €3,000 per square metre,” says Andrea Rubino, founder of Immobiliare Rubino. “However, prices vary significantly from area to area.”
The most expensive neighbourhood is the elegant Umbertina, where homes cost an average €3,800 to €4,500 per square metre. In this area, as in some other corners of Bari, average sale times have actually decreased in the first quarter of 2009, compared to the end of 2008.
In other Puglia locations, the upward trend has been even more marked. One such place is Barletta, the seat of the new province of Barletta, Andria and Trani. Here, average prices went down by about 100 euro since the end of last year (from €2,000 to €1,900 per square metre) but demand for studio, one and two-bedroom homes visibly picked up and average sale times decreased from 6 months to five and a half.
Demand also grew in the towns of Modugno and Monopoli, and most of all in the exquisitely Baroque city of Lecce, Puglia’s southernmost provincial capital, which attracts both main and second home purchasers.
Here, Rubino recorded a good increase in buyers’ numbers, particularly for properties priced €110,000 to €120,000. Average values saw a slight decline, reaching €1,000 to €1,100 per square metre, against €1,200-1,300 in the second half of last year, but average sale times settled at a speedy two months. The most popular homes have one bedroom and are situated in Lecce’s San Pio, Salesiani, Leuca and Mazzini areas.