Luxury Real Estate

By Carina de Sousa of IRG International Realty Group

The European Real Estate Network is the only truly pan-European network of independent, top quality, boutique brokerage companies. It brings together their considerable expertise, international contacts and resources to the benefit of their clients, be they buyers, sellers, investors or developers. The network is an international platform at the highest level for the acquisition, marketing and sale of premium real estate.

Bi-annually the European Real Estate Network issues a market update for luxury residential tourism in Europe.

In general summertime has seen slight confidence coming back to the property market. Although the lower end markets have been hit severely, the high end residential tourism market remained steady throughout and especially in “isolated pockets” throughout Europe. In these areas sales have been steady and ongoing although often fuelled by realistic pricing or accepted offers.

From September 2008 to June 2009 all affiliates have seen a decrease in sales for the luxury residential market. Inquiries still kept coming in but were for 50% not serious inquiries or are still in the sales pipeline.

Our affiliate in Austria, Peter Marschall from Marschall Immobilien is not sure if the bottom of the financial crisis has been reached and expects the prices to go down slightly.

Though in Switzerland both affiliates, WETAG Consulting and CGI Immobilier have signaled that prices

remained steady and in the Lake Geneva area there has even been an increase due to the large demand and limited offer of real estate. For Wetag Consulting that is covering Ticino with its lakes, Lago Maggiore and Lago di Lugano, parts of Graubünden, the Italian side of Lago Maggiore and Lago di Lugano as well as some parts of Lago di Como, and 80% of the buyers are international, namely from Germany, Italy, The Netherland and United Kingdom. Due to the changed tax laws in Switzerland foreigners have a great advantage to buy.