Italy Real Estate News

Viva Espana? International investors not so sure

2012-04-16T12:25:00.000+03:00

Spain has become the latest country caught up in the government debt crisis crippling Europe, sparking fears that it'll join Greece, Portugal and Ireland and go asking for an international bailout.

Over the past week, investors have grown increasingly wary of buying Spain's debt on the international bond markets, sending the country's cost of borrowing to highs not seen in nearly four months and its stock markets plummeting.

In reality, worries about Spain have always been there. Bond market pressure on Spain began seriously to mount in 2011 as the country's deficit and unemployment rocketed. But late last year, two factors helped ease this pressure. First, Mariano Rajoy's right-wing and pro-austerity Popular Party took over the reins after winning general elections in November. But of much greater impact was the European Central Bank's decision to flood the region's financial system with more than (EURO)1 trillion ($1.3 trillion) in bargain loans to banks. The injection spurred lenders to snap up battered government debt, driving Spanish borrowing costs down. However, the effects of the cheap loans across Europe have since dissipated and Spain is taking the brunt of market distrust.

Rajoy's administration is faced with two big tasks: resurrect an economy with 23 percent unemployment through job creation while trying to reduce its deficit to satisfy EU overseers and international investors via austerity measures. To help them achieve these, the government has already imposed draconian spending cuts as well as introducing labor market and banking sector reforms.

Real Estate and Mortgage Market Update

2012-04-14T10:24:00.000+03:00

U.S. interest rates are better this morning with the U.S. stock markets opening lower on reports out of China showing its economy is slowing more than thought. China’s GDP rose 8.1% in the first quarter from a year earlier following an 8.9% increase in the fourth quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing said today. That was less than the 8.4% growth predicted. China’s economy is slowing as exports decline to Europe and the U.S. The latest data shows imports are also slowing.

Europe’s debt problems are back as we noted previously. Average net borrowings by Spanish banks climbed to 227.6 billion euros last month from 152.4 billion euros in February, the Bank of Spain said. lender s in the whole euro system took 361.7 billion euros, the data showed. Spanish government bonds are headed for a second weekly decline, a sign the respite in the region’s debt crisis created by the ECB’s three-year loan program may be coming to an end. 17 of 22 economists surveyed this week predicted the ECB will be forced to resume its so-called Securities Markets Program to contain bond yields. In Italy there are protests by labor unions against the austerity plans being implemented. Prime Minister Monti’s pension plan was part of a $26 billion austerity package passed in January to fight the sovereign crisis by putting Italy’s debt, the second highest in Europe after Greece, on a downward trajectory from next year.

Returns on Italian property fall

2012-04-13T16:45:00.000+03:00

The income generated by commercial property in Italy fell in 2011, compared to the previous year.

In its Italy Annual Property Index, IPD revealed returns for investors on such real estate assets came in at 4.3 per cent last year, down from the 5.1 per cent recorded in 2010.

The organisation noted income return - which stood at 5.8 per cent - was the main driver behind the industry, as capital values dropped by 1.5 per cent in the same period.

Retail was the strongest commercial property sector in the country, posting overall gains of 5.5 per cent, followed by industrial assets and offices.

Neil Turner, head of fund management at Schroders, told Financial News last month that retail assets in the north of the nation should be on investors' radar this year.

However, Luigi Pischedda, country manager Italy at IPD, urged caution, noting that despite the performance of Italian commercial real estate being "encouraging", the figures need to be "read carefully in the context of recent years".

He highlighted the "further and faster capital declines" experienced in 2011 as an example of this, adding conditions in the Italian property market weakened towards the end of the year.

Italy seizes Gaddafi assets worth $1.4 bn

2012-03-30T17:06:00.000+03:00

Rome : Assets worth $1.1 billion euros (about $1.4 billion) belonging to Libya's Gaddafi family were seized by the Italian police.

The assets included stocks, real estate, a share of the Juventus soccer team and a Harley Davidson motorcycle, police said late Wednesday.

Then Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had cozied up to the Italian government and business leaders and in the process Libya was permitted to invest petroleum profits in oil company Eni, arms maker Finmeccancia, and automobile manufacturer Fiat.

The country built up a 7.5 stake in Unicredit, sparking outrage that a North African rogue tyrant could have a powerful voice in Italy's largest bank. It cost Unicredit chief executive Alessandro Profumo his job.

All deals were off when Italy joined its NATO allies in bombing Gaddafi's military in support of a rebel movement. Italy froze 3.6 billion euros worth of property belonging to Libya.

Eventually, Gaddafi and his three sons were killed. The assets, authorities believe belong directly to the Gaddafis, were impounded at the behest of the court.

test11

2011-07-20T14:01:00.000+03:00

test11 הלך בחצות הליל

test 123

2011-07-20T11:01:00.001+03:00

good morning

Carrefour Says Dia Spinoff Is Best Option After Approaches Come to Nothing

2011-05-18T18:34:00.000+03:00

The retailer, based in Boulogne-Billancourt, intends to list Dia, the world’s third-largest discounter, in Madrid on July 5, pending approval. The move is part of a plan, which includes spinning off 25 percent of Carrefour’s property assets in France, Italy and Spain as it focuses on the Carrefour brand.

Carrefour repeated in a statement today that it expects sales and operating income to rise this year, boosted by expansion in China and higher sales in Brazil. Western Europe remains difficult and soaring raw-material prices are limiting the ability to negotiate with suppliers, Carrefour said.

Bank of Italy to sell of real estate portfolio

2011-05-04T21:47:00.001+03:00

The Bank of Italy announced this week that it is selling off a big chunk of its real estate portfolio, including a large number of residential properties.
RTI (Consortium) Colliers International Italia – EXITone has won the agency contract to sell the assets which are valued at more than €300 million.

The portfolio, RTI (Consortium) Colliers International Italia – EXITone told OPP this week “consists of former bank branches and some residential units distributed throughout Italy, with a total surface area of ca. 240,000 SQM. Among the assets are some prestigious buildings located in major Italian cities.”

The public tender, which was published in May 2010, gives Colliers International Italia and EXITone three years to sell the properties. They have set up an international strategic committee with the heads of investment from Colliers offices in London, Paris, Madrid, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. This group has been given “the objective of defining the best sale strategies and guaranteeing the necessary visibility cross-borders,” says the consortium.

Colliers International is the third-largest commercial real estate services company in the world with 15,000 staff operating out of more than 480 offices in 61 countries

Italy's property sell-off: 9,000 lots in state sale Read more: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/mortgages-and-homes/homes-abroad/article.html?in_article_

2010-07-05T20:55:00.001+03:00

Fancy owning an island off the coast of Venice or Sardinia? If money is no object, one could soon be yours - as the Italian government is to sell off hundreds of treasures to reduce its national debt.About 9,000 buildings, palaces, beaches, islands and forts with an estimated value of more than £3bn are among the items that will become available at the end of this month. Italy's growing debt stands at £1.18 trillion. Among the most expensive and picturesque assets on sale is the Caprera island chain, part of the La Maddelana archipelago off the north-east coast of Sardinia.

12 bedroom Villa in Near Todi, Italy

2010-01-13T22:36:00.000+02:00

Glorious Private Estate Exclusive home or commercial enterprise Available for sale also in lots.

ESTATE: Rare opportunity to acquire a spectacular cluster of former grain mills in a secluded 17 acre valley setting. Perfect for those seeking a peaceful, spirit-restoring spot that is away from the public eye, yet easy to reach and easy to secure. Set close to a small hamlet, in agricultural land and woodland, the properties - with the benefit of 2 swimming pools, tennis court, vines, wells and a stream - are surrounded by their own land, making organic wine production a real possibility - room too for children to roam. Stables nearby.

Casa Latino Real Estate Expands To Italy

2010-01-11T00:24:00.000+02:00

A Master Franchise Agreement has been signed with Master Franchisor, Italico Srl, to proceed with the development of the Casa Latino brand in Italy. Italico Srl consists of several skilled professionals whose expertise ranges from international brand strategy to the development of franchising systems. Currently assisting one of the leading European fashion companies in strategic planning and development, the principals of Italico Srl feel they are ready to successfully develop the Casa Latino brand in their home country.

From San Benedetto del Tronto, Italy, Mr. Eros Spinozzi, President of Italico Srl, said; “During the year 2008 we had the opportunity to understand the brand position of Casa Latino and at the same time to observe the growing success of the franchise model during a period of huge downturn. We were introduced to this real estate brand by Mr. Sonny Buoncervello, a long time family friend that happened to be one of the pioneers of modern real estate business.

The Rocky Road Home

2010-01-09T11:21:00.000+02:00

FOR more than 25 years, Michael Logozzo, a native of Brooklyn, lived overseas, working various jobs — as a chef in Venice and in Rome, as a magazine editor in Paris and as a television host and fund-raiser in Warsaw. In 2003, he moved into a guarded compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, overseeing the acquisition of property for Roshan, a telecommunications company, and helping run a charitable program to feed Afghan children.
Multimedia
Interactive Feature
From Bare to Refined
What It Cost
Enlarge This Image
Ruby Washington/The New York Times

AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE After two days of traveling, Michael Logozzo arrived home expecting to see a furnished apartment.

But as the battle against the Taliban intensified, and car bombings and kidnappings increased, members of Mr. Logozzo’s large extended family in New York City — he has 14 brothers and sisters — began lobbying him to come home.

“They thought it was insane that I would take a job there to begin with, and that it was more insane to stay longer than my original six-month commitment,” he said. “None of them have the travel bug I do, and they were scared for my safety.”

Rome Property For Sale

2010-01-07T23:32:00.000+02:00

TYPE Section of a villa on three levels with garden.
CONDITION Excellent.
LOCATION In a residential area. Good position.
MUNICIPALITY Rome
PROVINCE Rome
REGION Lazio
SIZE 310 square metres (3336 square feet)
ROOMS 8
BEDROOMS 3
BATHROOMS 2
FEATURES Brick construction, terraces.
LAND No, but lovely private garden.
GARDEN 900 square metres of garden with irrigation
ANNEX No.
ACCESS Excellent.

World's tallest building opens in world's newest real estate desert

2010-01-05T21:49:00.001+02:00

Thank goodness the Dubai area is geologically stable, because its regional politics and economics certainly aren't.

Pretty soon some 12,000 people will be living and working in the Burj Dubai, a soaring 818m needle of glass, concrete and steel that overshadows the diminished real estate on the desert floor that is Dubai.

At least that's what the owners of the world's tallest building hope as they officially open the centrepiece of the 202ha development this week. The project is one of superlatives. Not least that it will house the world's highest mosque nearly 160 storeys above ground. It cost $1.5 billion to build, according to Dubai’s state-owned developer, Emaar. It's a building without peer, although a number of other super-structures are being constructed elsewhere on the globe and in nearby Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. It's also a testament to the day the world stopped viewing Dubai as the Neverland of economic prosperity, effectively deserting the Las Vegas of the Arabian desert.

Start the bidding: Rome Home Depot for sale

2010-01-03T21:36:00.001+02:00

By REBECCA CRONISER
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Jan 01, 2010 @ 04:49 PM
ROME —

Just $1.9 million. That’s what is needed to start the bidding Jan. 19-20 in the online auction for the former Home Depot building in Rome.

It could be a deal for the property, which is assessed at nearly $7.2 million.

But finding someone interested in the building is going to be tough, officials say.

“I don’t see it going,” said Rome Mayor James Brown. “It’s tough the way the economy is. Nobody is really expanding at this point in time.”

The giant orange and beige retail store on Rome-Taberg Road has sat empty since it closed in the summer of 2008.

The store wasn’t open for long in Rome. The 112,940-square-foot building — with 19,646-square-feet of outdoor side yard — opened in 2003.

Start the bidding: Rome Home Depot for sale

2010-01-03T21:36:00.000+02:00

Italy's Tax Amnesty Brings in $114 Billion

2009-12-31T10:23:00.000+02:00

MILAN -- Requests by individuals to repatriate funds under a tax-amnesty plan launched in October totaled about €80 billion (about $114 billion) as of Dec. 15, a top government official said Tuesday.

Last week Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said the government extended the tax amnesty plan to April 2010, in a move to collect more assets currently deposited out of the country, but increased the fee to be paid to 7% of the total value of the assets. Investors that repatriate assets by Feb. 28 will pay a 6% fee, the ministry said.

The Italian government in October launched the tax-amnesty plan, the third in the past eight years, which allowed Italians to repatriate funds deposited in tax havens out of Italy through Dec. 15. As part of the plan, people would have to pay a 5% fine on the total amount of assets repatriated and wouldn't have to declare how they earned the money. In November, Mr. Tremonti estimated windfall tax revenue for the government at up to €4 billion.

Small domestic asset managers as well as private-banking boutiques have benefited most from the flood of new funds, as Italy's two largest domestic retail banks -- Intesa Sanpaolo SpA and UniCredit SpA -- weren't able to attract large sums of assets deposited offshore, according to several people involved in the tax-amnesty plan.

From Ceausescu to the New Italy

2009-12-30T21:25:00.001+02:00

he recent election in Romania, in which President Traian Basescu was re-elected with 50.3% of the vote, underlined why, 20 years after the fall of Ceausescu, Romania has become the new Italy.

In both countries, politics are hard-fought, polarized, and periodically bizarre. The comedy and melodrama of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are well known. But the failed impeachment of Mr. Basescu and the odd bedfellows and political pillow fights of Romanian politics are rarely noted outside Bucharest.

The parallels are remarkable. Both countries reclaimed democracy when they executed their dictators Benito Mussolini (April 28, 1945) and Nicolae Ceausescu (December 25, 1989). Both emerged from dictatorship flat on their backs economically and with many friends in the West fearing they would not sustain democracy. And within 20 years, with support from America and Western Europe, both became firmly democratic, much more prosperous, and economically and militarily relevant members of the European Union and NATO.

2nd UPDATE:Italy Econ Min: EUR95B Declared Under Tax Amnesty

2009-12-29T19:11:00.001+02:00

MILAN (Dow Jones)--Under the Italian government's tax amnesty plan, assets worth EUR95 billion have been declared, of which 98% will be brought back to Italy from offshore, the Italian Economy Ministry said Tuesday, citing data as of Dec. 15.

"This is a positive dividend from the London G20," said Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti in a phone interview. "The era of banking secrecy is over."

Tremonti was referring to the meeting of the Group of 20 industrial and developing nations in London in April where world leaders took measures aimed at repairing the financial system to lift the economy from a global recession.

The EUR95 billion figure was well above the ministry's previous total of EUR80 billion. The higher figure is because of "a lastminute acceleration" in people making a voluntary disclosure, Tremonti said.

In an emailed statement, the ministry also said the extension of the plan to April 2010 would be the "last one and definitive." In December, Tremonti announced the extension of the plan but with higher fees. Italians who repatriate assets by Feb. 28 will have to pay a 6% fee on those assets, while assets declared by April 30 will have a 7% fee.

Tremonti declined to give a forecast of the total amount of funds that could be disclosed and repatriated.

In October, the Italian government started a tax amnesty plan that allowed Italians with undeclared assets hidden in tax shelters outside the country to repatriate them by paying a 5% fee.

Small is beautiful for Italy's tax amnesty

2009-12-28T00:01:00.000+02:00

MILAN, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Smaller institutions appear to have benefited more from funds being repatriated under Italy's tax amnesty than larger ones, with Italy's four biggest banks collecting less than a quarter of the estimated total.

And a final rush suggests the government's decision to extend the amnesty with slightly tighter terms beyond April could bring in more than the 80 billion euros ($115 billion) which Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti was expecting.

"There was a bottleneck at the end. That could mean the extension will open up more chances," a sector source said.

LDK, SunPower Up on Italy Deals

2009-12-26T10:07:00.000+02:00

XINYU CITY, China and SUNNYVALE, Calif. (TheStreet) -- LDK Solar(LDK Quote) was up in pre-market trading by more than 2%, after it announced overnight that it had lined up a deal with Uni Land, an Italian real-estate banking and development company, to construct photovoltaic plants totaling 20 megawatts (MW) in 2010 and 2011LDK Solar will oversee engineering, procurement and construction of the plants and will also supply the solar modules. Uni Land will finance the PV project operations.

Italy's Coin To Buy Upim In Retail Tie-Up - Source

2009-12-25T14:08:00.000+02:00

MILAN (Dow Jones)--Gruppo Coin SpA (GCN.MI) has agreed to buy smaller competitor Upim, a deal that would create Italy's biggest department store chain, a source familiar with the agreement said Thursday.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, the person confirmed newspaper reports published earlier in the day that valued the deal at more than EUR1 billion.

Under the terms of the deal, Upim's shareholders--Investitori Associati, Deutsche Bank Real Estate Opportunities Group, Pirelli & Co. Real Estate SpA (PRS.MI) and Gruppo Borletti--and its creditors--Unicredit SpA (UCG.MI) and Natixis (KN.FR)--will get a 7.5% stake in Coin, according to one newspaper, La Repubblica.

Borgo di Vagli, Tuscany

2009-12-12T19:45:00.000+02:00


Life at the Borgo

24.11.2009 11:47:32 Realpoint is pleased to offer our clients a luxury Tuscan lifestyle at the unique Borgo di Vagli. Located close to Mercatale Cortona in the heart of the Tuscan countryside, Borgo di Vagli is a meticulously restored 14th century hamlet surrounded by a protected area of olive groves, fruit trees and ancient oaks. From the terraces, you can enjoy panoramic views of the breathtaking Tuscan hills, including a spectacular view of the 10th century Pierle castle.

(live-PR.com) - For those who love the authentic Tuscan experience, Borgo di Vagli now offers a unique and affordable ownership opportunity. This fractional ownership resort enables owners to enjoy virtually unlimited vacations in your Tuscan country home for a fraction of the price of whole ownership. Owners receive a 1/10th undivided interest in a residence category which incorporates a right over the

Vatican bank accused of laundering money

2009-12-08T08:52:00.000+02:00

In its latest issue published on Friday, the magazine claims prosecutors are probing transactions totalling 180 million euros handled between 2006 and 2008 by Vatican bank (IOR) accounts held at Unicredit’s branch near the Vatican in Rome’s Via della Conciliazione.

Some of the funds came from the sale and purchase of real estate, and the banking operations allegedly breaking money laundering laws. Prosecutors told the magazine that they would in the next few days to question Unicredit's senior management over the suspect operations.

Pirelli RE 9-mth loss widens, hikes savings goal

2009-11-04T16:05:00.000+02:00

MILAN, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Italy's Pirelli & C Real Estate SpA (PCRE.MI) posted a wider nine-month net loss on Wednesday, as restructuring costs and writedowns weighed, and raised its savings target for 2009. The net loss widened to 57.9 million euros ($85.37 million) from 12.9 million euros a year earlier. That was less than two analysts' forecasts for a loss of 63 million euros and 70 million euros. Income fell 33 percent to 199 million euros, Pirelli RE, a unit of industrial group Pirelli & C SpA (PECI.MI), said.

Pirelli RE upped its full-year cost savings target to 65 million euros, from 50 million euros, after booking 47 million euros up to September.

It also reiterated its full-year forecast for earnings before interest and tax. At 1222 GMT, Pirelli RE shares were up 2.1 percent at 0.5350 euros, little changed after the results.