The Italian branch of international estate agent Re/Max is offering special discounts on properties across Italy until the end of February
It is sales time in Italy and crafty estate agents have pounced on the idea to kickstart the flagging property market.
Re/Max, an international estate agent with 220 branches in Italy, will offer an average 10% discount on selected properties in its books. Last year, the company launched the property sales idea, called Saldi Immobiliari©, as an experiment—after all, it was a daring innovation in a country where, traditionally, vendors prefer to hang on to their home than reduce the asking price. In 2009, however, it has taken notable proportions.
“Successfully tested last year, Saldi Immobiliari© returns in 2009 to meet the needs of the market which, in these difficult times, requests an adustment of property values to the current demand,” says Re/Max Italia President Dario Castiglia.
The sales, which have been authorised by vendors with a notary-certified document, will apply to some 500 properties, which have an average value of €270,000 and average discounts of 10%. But some places will see even higher reductions—about 200 of them will have their asking price lowered by 10% to 50%.
Most of the discounted properties are situated in Lombardy, followed by Piedmont, but there are also some in the Centre of Italy, the South and the islands. For example, in Sardinia, Re/Max is selling a panoramic country home, newly built in the vernacular stazzo style and set among olive trees and Mediterranean scrubland, for €245,000—a 6% discount over the original price of €260,000.
In Tuscany, a large independent portion of a cascina on the Lucca hills, decorated in country style with fireplace and exposed beams and equipped with garden and pergola to dine alfresco, is on the market for €750,000—a 6% reduction over the original asking price of €800,000. And in Piedmont, a secluded home in the Ossola valley, reached by a dirt road and some steps, and overlooking the verdant countryside and the river Toce, is for sale at €130,000—a 13% discount over the original price of €149,000.
The Re/Max ‘property sales’ will last until February 28.
