Wednesday 3 March 2010

What is happening with the Euro? Is this the time to purchase Italian property?

So you're looking to purchase a house near Siena, Florence or Cortona and have been looking for several months. In the good old days the pound was a happy 1.5 euros and we all equated 30 Euros to 20 Pounds. Those days are unfortunately over. Just before Christmas 2009 I flew back to London on business. Landing in London Stansted I  asked the exchange rate at the bureau de change. I had to ask twice as I didn't believe the cashiers reply. One pound equated to 1.007 Euro. Although this was the tourist rate it didn't get much better online, nor did my enthusiasm lift when I spoke to my currency chap. What had happened to Sterling? That was then and this is now and although Sterling made gains over the Christmas holidays the pound has taken another large hit over the last five days and all indications are that it has further to go.

This brings me back to you search for your Italian abode. Should you continue looking or wait until the pound recovers. Well firstly it is my opinion that the pound will not recover in the short term and who knows what will happen in a year or so. What you need to remember is what seems to be your misfortune is in fact your gain, for vendors who are looking to revert the value of the sale of their Italian property back to sterling are now more then ever keen to find a purchaser. For example we have one client who has a stunning property overlooking a lake near Sansepolcro who has reduced his asking price from 3.2m to 2.2m Euros. Our clients are talking to us daily and you will see from our website www.abode.it that we have a dedicated section for reduced properties.

We are the people on the ground who are following the market trends and right now Italian property is looking cheap. If you're interested in purchasing Italian property or would like to talk to someone just contact the Perugia office on 0039 075 573 3941 or email us at info@abode.it. I wouldn't delay, there are bargains to be had right now.

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