Only one share remaining! Sales success of luxury fractional ownership holiday home reflects buoyancy of Italian market
Italy’s luxury property market has been attracting considerable interest of late with the news that the ruling family of Qatar has added the exclusive Regina Hotel Baglioni in Rome to its overseas investment portfolio. The purchase comes hot on the heels of the Sultan of Brunei’s Dorchester Group taking over Rome’s Hotel Eden.
- Italy’s luxury property market has weathered the recession
- High end properties like Casa Leopardi show strong sales
- Fractional ownership scheme proves a roaring success
With the Italian government looking to sell off a range of high end residences to keep its budget in check, including castles, palaces and even an island, the luxury property market is expected to remain just as buoyant in 2014 and beyond. In fact, the sector has done an excellent job of ignoring the country’s recession entirely.
Dawn Cavanagh-Hobbs, founder of fractional ownership company Appassionata, has first-hand experience of how well Italy’s luxury property market has operated during the past two years. Her five bedroom, five bathroom Casa Leopardi, which comes with its own private pool and five acres of vineyards and olive groves, along with a truffle orchard and lavender plantation, has been in hot demand since renovation work on the property was completed.
Designed as the ultimate luxury holiday home, Casa Leopardi is beautiful on the inside as well as the outside, with interior designer Dawn ensuring that every last tile and antique chandelier adds to the property’s overall charm.
Casa Leopardi is a fractional ownership property, divided into ten shares. Each share provides the owner with five weeks’ exclusive use of the house per year, along with a proportion of the produce from the estate. The arrangement means that owners can arrive, put their bags down and begin to enjoy their holiday in Le Marche immediately, moving away from the usual stresses and chores associated with owning a holiday home overseas.
Casa Leopardi’s first fraction was sold in May 2012. Since then, the property has attracted considerable interest from buyers worldwide. All but one share of the property have now sold, with owners coming from across Europe, America and South Africa. Dawn explains,
“Casa Leopardi is such a unique property and its owners have the chance to experience rural Italian living at its very best. With Blue Flag beaches and the Sibillini Mountains nearby, the area offers year-round activities. Le Marche also has a strong reputation for its gourmet cuisine, particularly when it comes to truffles, and that adds to the attraction for many of our owners. The fact that we have arranged the sale of the fractions so that there are no hidden costs – no lawyers or tax to pay – is another bonus.”
The arrangement has clearly worked well. The final share, priced at £195,000, is expected to sell by the end of 2013. After that, Dawn and her husband Michael will be moving on to two further restoration projects in the nearby town of Petritoli – a three bedroom townhouse and a five bedroom palazzo. Both will be sold as fractional ownership properties, building on the success of Casa Giacomo and Casa Leopardi and how happy the fractional arrangement has made its owners.
Despite Italy’s economic wobbles, it’s clear that the luxury property market, including the fractional ownership side of it, refuses to join in the financial fluctuations.
For more information contact Appassionata on 0039 073 465 8775, visit www.appassionata.com or take a video tour of Casa Leopardi.