Unrestored homes purchase +83%. Fashion is a ruin

The new trend of real estate, ruined houses for a market in crisis

They are called fixer-upper, more commonly slums, houses in poor condition sometimes to be rebuilt almost from scratch are the latest trend when it comes to real estate in New York.

The trend is becoming increasingly popular due to the decline of the houses on the market and lower prices of the houses in ruins, convenient despite the costs that the restructuring.

Jonathan Miller, head of the real estate firm Miller Samuel, told the New York Times that the purchase of housing conditions as "poor or very poor" rose in the City by 83% from December 2011 to December 2012.

"The properties for sale in Manhattan fell by 34% from the fourth quarter of 2011 - said Miller - touching its lowest level for 12 years now, and that's why those who want to buy a home has become more flexible."

Some giants of real estate, as Corcoran and Brown Harris Stevens, who first proposed not to customers homes in poor condition have decided to change its policy.

And search engines are emerging as RealDirect.com that allow users to perform ad hoc research, entering as keywords terms 'unrenovated', ie not refurbished, and 'needs work', needs restoration.

"Many people, especially in recent months, prefer a place to rebuild from scratch, a home created by them one hundred percent rather than made according to the tastes of someone else" said Doug Perlson, CEO of RealDirect.

Among those who chose to marry the new philosophy there are, for example, Laura Jacobs, a writer, and her husband James Wolcott, cultural critic for Vanity Fair.

The couple decided to buy a house for $ 750,000 in Washington Heights after selling the apartment where they lived for 1.36 million dollars.

"We knew that we would have spent at least $ 200,000 for the renovation, but the space was huge - they explained to the NYT - we were certain that the result would be what we wanted."

Even Corey Reese, attorney for Estee Lauder for nine years for rent in Chelsea, bought a 'slum' to turn on 24th Street, for $ 789,000,

"I saw an apartment in horrible conditions - he said - but I understood the potential: the view, the Art Deco style, the brightness. And finally - he added - the ability to have a real kitchen."

The Italian real estate market crisis, merciless numbers

Translation of an interesting article from the Italian web based newspaper Nove da Firenze .

The figures released by FIAIP are really discouraging: in Italy in the period 2007-2012 real estate sales were down by as much as 40%. In the past year house prices also showed a decrease of 12% (25% if we compare the average prices of the previous year with those of 2008.).

And common clichés that keep the industry afloat we have thought in the past few years the only luxury properties, and this both in Italy and internationally.

According to the findings in the recent MEETIN - a real estate meeting in Naples, for example, this assumption seems confirmed in the Southern Italy.

Over the last five years, sales and construction of new buildings have declined by 40%, sales of larger apartments and luxury properties in the most prestigious neighborhoods of Naples (Posillipo, Vomero, Chiaia) has instead maintained.

The same goes for real estate on the Sorrento coast, who have not registered even the declines in sales prices.

Of the first opinions in contrast seem to come from the Northern Italy, and in particular from Milan.

According writes Joan Valsecchi on Immobiliare.it News, it seems that even the high end of the market - which had not previously been the least affected by the crisis - is starting to feel a bit 'hit: properties of prestige of Milan in fact, would arrive at the cost 20-25% less than it was five years ago.

And if we can not speak of a real crisis, however, would seem obvious signs of some slowdown in the luxury market.

It seems that at this time the only ones who can afford the expense of a certain kind - we speak of digits that can even exceed € 19,000 per square meter - are entrepreneurs belonging to sectors that are resisting more to the crisis, such as fashion or telephone for example, or the super-rich from Russia or the Arab states.

To confirm the trend, in some way, there are also data published on 6 March by Osservatorio Residenze Esclusive (Observatory of Exclusive Residences), sponsored by Tirelli & Partners, and for the second half of 2012 in the cities of Milan and Rome.

According to these data luxury properties are struggling to find buyers, and so stretch of the days of sale.

According Casa24Plus for example, in Milan, for homes with a value of more than € 7,000 per square meter, the average selling now would exceed 16 months (in 2010 were less than one year).

We wanted to explore the question also heard the opinion of Dimitri Corti, CEO of Lionard Exclusive Real Estate, a Pistoia (Tuscany) estate agency specializing in selling luxury real estate in Italy.

According to D. Corti there is not actually a real braking because the Italian sellers are basically willing to consider offers also much lower, while still allowing you to get to the final sale.

Confirms instead the fact that buyers come almost exclusively from countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Kazakhstan.

We are then told that Tuscany is by far one of the most sought after, not only in Italy but also in the whole Europe.