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The profile of overseas house hunters in Italy is changing - New trends

16 FEB 2024
Estero
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Analyzing the performances of Gate-away.com – the Italian property portal dedicated to international buyers looking for a home in Italy – for 2023, the bel paese is still drawing home buyers from all over the world, especially Americans, Germans and Brits.

“The peak in searches from overseas for Italian properties for sale through Gate-away.com was registered in April and August 2023, although the period that goes from February to March also experienced an intense activity. – comments Simone Rossi, Gate-away.com co-founder – The average value for the requested properties in Italy is around 530,000 euros, but we have recorded an increase in enquiries for properties up to 100,000 euros, accounting for 40.78% of total requests. This confirms our idea that foreign investment in Italy real estate is not only attractive but also increasingly well distributed”.

International buyers in Italy in 2023: nationalities and age

In terms of nationalities, Americans are at the top of the list (28.82%) of those who sent the major number of requests in 2023. They are followed by the Germans (11.53%) and the British (9.05%).

The top ten of the most active countries also includes Italy once again because many sent enquiries while in the peninsula. Then there are the following countries:

  1. Canada

  2. France

  3. Netherlands

  4. Switzerland

  5. Belgium

  6. Sweden

Worthy of attention is the growth of Israel also for 2023 (+39.62%) in spite of the events in the Middle East. Among the English speaking countries, also Australia (+10.4%) in 13th position and Ireland (+11.34%) in 15th position registered an increase in the number of enquiries they sent with respect to 2022.

One of the main novelties concerns the age of those using Gate-away.com to find their dream home in Italy, which could open up new and interesting scenarios.

As a matter of fact, the majority of its 1.8 million unique visitors are 45 to 54 years old. This means that their average age has dropped compared to the previous years when they were mainly 55 to 64 years old.

Another very interesting statistic to focus on is the segment of potential buyers who are between 25 and 44 years old which represents a growing slice of the market of international buyers in Italy that can totally change the scenario of the reasons why overseas investors look for a home in Italy. In fact, while before the majority of people were looking for a property where to spend their retirement years, now more and more people are also looking for a place from where they can work remotely. This is a completely new trend.

The most requested locations of Italy

Ostuni in Puglia, Chianni in Tuscany and Scalea in Campania were the most requested towns in 2023 according to Gate-away.com annual report, with Chianni that registered +143.42% compared to 2022.

Then there are the following towns:

  1. Fivizzano (Tuscany)

  2. Lucca (Tuscany)

  3. Carovigno (Puglia)

  4. Nizza Monferrato (Piedmont)

  5. Noto (Sicily)

  6. Todi (Umbria)

  7. Tropea (Calabria)

For the provinces, Como (4.75%) in Lombardy has been the most requested one. Perugia (4.46%) in Umbria and Lucca (4.37%) are respectively in second and third position.

Then there are the following provinces:

  1. Brindisi in Puglia (3.86% on the total number of requests for all Italian provinces)

  2. Sassari (3.82%)

  3. Imperia (3.43%)

  4. Cosenza (3.39%)

  5. Massa Carrara (3.18%)

  6. Chieti (2.94%)

  7. Pisa (2.87%)

The top three regions are still Tuscany (18.52%), Lombardy (9.28%) and Liguria (8.42%) and this has remained unchanged if compared to 2022.

The rest of the top 10 is composed as follows:

  1. Sicily (8.16%)

  2. Piedmont (7.74%)

  3. Apulia (7.68%)

  4. Abruzzo (6.63%)

  5. Umbria (5.94%)

  6. Sardinia (5.68%)

  7. Calabria (5.48%)

“The Southern regions of Sicily, Abruzzo, Sardinia, Calabria and Molise deserve a special mention. – comments Simone Rossi – In 2023 they are the regions that recorded a substantial growth in interest compared to the previous year. Moreover, while Lake Como ranks first among the most requested areas, followed by Salento in Puglia, Lunigiana in Tuscany and Itria Valley in Puglia, the highest percentages of growth are for the Maremma area (+ 6.53%) of Tuscany but above all for the Alps, which reached +67.07%.”

Most popular properties for sale in Italy

74.65% of enquiries on the Gate-away.com portal are for detached houses even if we also recorded a growth for flats (+7.48%). The majority of requests are for fully restored and already habitable properties (63.84%), although enquiries for properties to be restored increased in 2023 (+16% compared to 2022). The presence of a garden is a plus in 57% of cases and the most sought-after properties are wide dwellings measuring more than 120 m².

The majority of requests (40.78%) are for properties worth up to € 100,000. 24.78% are for properties for sale in the € 100,000 - € 250,000 bracket. 16.79% are for € 250,000 to € 500,000 homes while 9.64% are for € 500,000 to 1 million euros homes and 8% for those for sale for over 1 million euros.


Media Enquiries:

Samanta Crocetti - samanta.c@gate-away.com