Casa di Lusso....torna l'appeal

The luxury home market remains an attractive segment for those who intend to invest in real estate. According to Knight Frank, an independent consultancy firm on luxury real estate, Italy could at this moment offer good opportunities for the purchase of a second luxury home, especially in vacation spots. Luxury residential has recently seen a drop in prices (minus 5.5% on average in 2016), but this may not be bad news, as it could produce a further push to invest in the sector. The context, however, is not simple: the fall in prices, the changes to taxation in recent years that have made investment in second homes less convenient, the "patchy" price dynamics in luxury real estate require planning with weighting the investments, preferably by being assisted by an expert who is able to help understand which types of properties and which areas to orientate on, with which investment formulas and which solutions for generational handover and tax optimization. The first step is to understand where to invest, because prestigious properties, perhaps in tourist resorts, which are however located outside the circuits of international interest, are in fact illiquid investments, difficult to exploit, which can be a source of management burdens and cost, if you do not decide to use them but have only been purchased for investment. Furthermore, the luxury real estate market presents wide differences between different areas and regions: according to Knight Frank's data, if the properties of Forte dei Marmi in 2016 recorded a decline of 13.3%, due to the disappearance of Russian investors, the Riviera di Levante in Liguria fell by only 1%, while the luxury houses in the area around Lake Como increased by 1.2), and in some Tuscan locations such as Pisa and Lucca the luxury brick has seen an appreciation of 0.5%, against more or less stable performances in cities such as Milan, Rome, Florence and Venice. But for example Tuscany, which also recorded a drop in prices, continues to appear interesting because it is among the regions that most attract foreigners, especially Chianti, Val d'Orcia and Maremma, which have also depreciated. respectively and 7, 11.1 and 9.5%. Even the Costa Smeralda - the most expensive area in Italy - after a period of stalemate is becoming very popular with foreigners, attracting interest above all from the Middle East, Germany and the Nordic countries. In general, there is a renewed interest in Italy from abroad, which could grow further in light of the new flat tax of 100 thousand euros for those who move their residence to Italy. Investing in prestigious properties can therefore be a winning choice, as long as it is done with a conscious attitude, also in terms of generational change, with a careful choice (not only on the areas but also on the sizes and the context) and with attention the prospective return and the degree of risk and illiquidity of the assets held.