Italy is one of the few countries in which prices have not crashed in the past year but it remains a buyer's market.
Italy's economy is suffering badly from the credit crunch, with economic output predicted to fall 5.2% this year, even faster than in Britain. But property prices have remained relatively stable because the country never went overboard on mortgage debt as happened in the UK or over-developed as happened in Spain.
Traditionally, Italians have fewer and smaller mortgages than in the UK and the banking system means it is unusual for more than one lender to give a mortgage or loan to an individual. This cautious approach led to much smaller property booms in the 1990s and 2000s – and fewer problems in the past two years.
This year's annual survey of international property markets by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors found Italy was one of the few countries where prices had not fallen over the previous 12 months. Its report found: “House prices have not risen by anything like those in many other EU countries, growing by about 40% in real terms between 1998 and 2007.
“Italians tend not to buy and sell property in the frenetic style of the British and Americans, moving, on average, just once every 20 years.
“The second home or holiday-home market has, at least in some areas, performed even better than the first house market. This year it is more in the buyer’s favour, with longer selling times and greater leverage on discounts. But don't expect to go bargain-hunting and find vendors throwing property at your feet. Tuscany prices have not come down much if at all, although there tends to be more room for negotiation than a year ago.”
Tuscany remains the most popular region for foreign buyers, thanks to a mix of culture, food, wine and budget flights to easy-access airports such as Pisa, which has daily services via a number of carriers, and Florence.

Further proof that the Italian property market remains buoyant can be seen when you look at beach properties. Puglia is the most popular region for houses by the coast, with the areas of Gargano and the Salento seeing rises of 17% and 13% in requests. Sicily, the second most popular region, has seen demand rise 9%-11%.

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