Change your lifestyle by purchasing a traditional Puglian dry stone hut (trullo) or farm

PROPERTY MARKET

People are racing to find authentic properties after Covid, despite prices having as much as doubled in some cases, but it is still possible to find gems for €150,000 Traditional Puglian dry stone huts (trulli), farms, apartments in historic old towns. The tourist property market in the Itria Valley, in Puglia, is extremely buoyant. Foreign buyers have returned in search of a traditional historic property to change their lifestyle, while Italian nationals are buying them to rent out for profit. Finally, more and more foreign funds or large-scale investors are on the hunt for farms to build 5-star resorts following the success of Borgo Egnazia. Top of the list of most desirable locations is Ostuni, which is also the most expensive. Here is what Ville&Casali discovered when they consulted several local property experts.

Damiana Disanto from Puglia Charme estate agents in Cisternino (www.pugliacharme.net) explains how before the pandemic, in 2019, a one-hectare plot with building permission in the Ostuni countryside would have cost around €30,000 euros, whereas now it is impossible to find anything for less than €80,000 - €90,000. “With the recent reopening after Covid, the Belgians, French, Germans, Swiss and Dutch have all returned since Easter, many even coming by car. But they have been confronted with a lack of trulli, farmhouses and villas on the market in the €300,000 to €500,000 price range. Instead, there is an abundance of properties from €600,000 euros upwards".The expert recommends extreme caution when purchasing a property in need of renovation. A traditional Puglian dry stone trullo is everyone’s dream property, but the cost of renovation has skyrocketed by at least 30 percent. In today’s climate, it is even difficult to estimate how much it would cost to restore the conical roof, whereas before the price ranged between €7,000 and €10,000. She concludes by saying, “An estimate made today can fluctuate unexpectedly due to the rising cost of materials".

In support of growing investment interest, Diego Flore, from the estate agents Coldwell Banker Gruppo Bodini, cites the case of one of his clients, who bought a renovated and refurbished 70-square metre trullo in the Ostuni countryside with swimming pool and half a hectare of land. “They bought it in 2019 for €163,000 and are now selling it on with our brokerage for €320,000". In other words, the price has almost doubled. “Trulli prices have gone up by at least 20 percent in the last two years", the estate agent explains, “sometimes by even more, as in this case. And that's not all. Average sale times have been slashed from six to three months". He goes on to say that the trulli market in the Itria Valley is divided into three bands: “From €30,000 ripe for renovation to €150,000 fully renovated, generally sought-after by local buyers; from €150,000 to €500,000, more popular with Italians from Lombardy, Lazio, Campania and other parts of Italy; last but not least, from €500,000 to €1-€1.2 million, for rare properties such as villages of 20 - 30 super trulli sought by large-scale investors and hotel owners looking for rental profitability, with a net return of up to 7 percent".

Gianluca Marseglia, owner of Immobiliare Centro Storico in Ostuni (www.centrostoricoimmobiliare.it), has seen sales rise by 40 percent after Covid. “The French and the Swiss are queuing up, many even want to change their lives and move to Ostuni", he explains.

The most sought-after properties? “Apartments in the historic centre, in sixteenth-century stately buildings and in the countryside close to the sea, including in Fasano. Renovated 1980s farmhouses and villas go for €450,000 to €1 millioneuros".

But it is the rental market that is seeing unchecked growth. Francesco Tarì and Gianluca Di Martino are two partners from Loveluxurypuglia (www.loveluxurypuglia.it), a company that manages third-party properties and develops tourist accommodation in the Itria Valley. “A twobedroom villa with pool would cost between €2,500 and €5,000 euros per week in peak season", they explain, “while a luxury 5 to 6-bedroom farmhouse in the Ostuni countryside 13 km from the sea would set you back up to €40,000 for one week. The trend of renovating trulli and farmhouses and converting them into luxury accommodation with amenities such as transfers, concierge, charter hire and so on, has been spreading for at least the last year and a half". Madia Roma became the first female estate agent in the Itria Valley a quarter of a century ago. Owner of Puntocasa in Ostuni (www.ostunipuntocasa.com) and recently of another agency in Cisternino, she explains that “I have seen the market constantly grow over the last fifteen years; large farmhouses have been converted into luxury accommodation that have stayed true to the Puglian style and helped grow the Itria Valley ‘brand’". She is clearly referring to Borgo Egnazia, which, with its adjacent golf course, welcomes tourists for nine months of the year. Generally speaking, people who come here on holiday decide to buy a trullo, farmhouse or farm within two years of their visit.

Mrs Roma adds: “I recommend investors to purchase properties in need of renovation to then rent them out or convert them into luxury homes". This agency has become a point of reference for those looking for a hospitality property. This is attested to by the sale of a farm and building in the historic old town of Ceglie Messapica in the early 2000s to the engineer Cesare Fiorio, former Formula One Sporting Director for Ferrari. “The farm,” Madia Roma recalls, “belonged to a landowner who used it as a summer residence".

What are investors primarily looking for? “Old, renovated 1990s houses with 5-6 bedrooms overlooking the olive groves, or 800- to 2,000-square metre farmhouses in need of renovation in the Ostuni countryside with 5 - 100 hectares of land. And the prices? From €1.2 million to €6 or €7 million, but there are incentives and concessions when it comes to renovating authentic properties", the estate agent concludes.

Pietro D’Amico, head of the gruppo Invest d’Amico estate agents (www. damicogruppo.it; and of the newly organic farm il Frantolio), with 7 agencies located in various municipalities, confirms investors’ increasing interest in converting high-end properties into small resorts or boutique hotels: “Armed with a budget of €1 - €3 million, they are looking for 700-2000 sqm farmhouses in need of renovation in Ostuni, Cisternino, Ceglie Messapica, Locorotondo, Fasano and even Monopoli. Generally speaking, these are English or German foreign investment funds, and the properties are then handed over to specialist rental companies". MARTINA IS LESS EXPENSIVE

Martina Franca has no shortage of traditional Puglian trulli, particularly properties in need of renovation. We are talking about a 295-square kilometre rural area that stretches as far as Alberobello, the 39th largest area in Italy. “The area offers everything you need: cinema, theatre, amenities,” explains Claudio Pastore from Sefim (www.sefimfranchising.it), FIAIP (Italian Federation of Professional Estate Agents) provincial advisor. “And we are exactly half way between the Ionian Sea and the Adriatic". Many are looking for a property ripe for renovation or a modernised trullo that retains its original features, which means traditional stone slabs rather than terracotta floors. A swimming pool is absolutely essential, even if an above-ground splash pool. The second home of your dreams might also be in a historic building, even though many have already been converted into B&Bs. Or a 115-square metre trullo with 5 - 6 conical roofs and vaulted ceilings, without a pool but with the option to build one. Sefim sells exactly this type of property on the Martina Franca - Ostuni market for €150,000. “With a great renovation you can get yourself a gem", explains Pastore.