Despite the name “The green heart of Italy” gives a good idea of the beauty of this region, Umbria has much more to offer and never ends to amaze. Its history, culture, nature, succulent food and an endless number of stunning hilltop medieval towns, make Umbria one of Italy’s most enchanting regions.
All these characteristics alone would make owning a property in Umbria very appealing to anyone, but there’s lot more to say about it. For example, Umbria’s territory is made up for its 30% of woodland and with less than one million inhabitants in total and 106.4 inhabitant per square Km, its population density is the lowest of the country, about half of the national average, giving everybody enough room to live peacefully.
Another reason why Umbria is so attractive is that it doesn’t have neither a coastline nor an international border, this has helped it keeping its traditions and has given to it a further sense of mystic.
The demand for properties in Umbria as you can expect is quite strong. For all the reasons mentioned above and for loads of other reasons not mentioned for space issues, Umbria has seen its appeal and its property prices rise steadily across the last twenty years, making it reach one of the top positions in the high end markets of Italy. Nevertheless, the majority of people that buy a property there consider Umbria still worth it, as it preserves a truer charm than the close by Tuscany.
The property type that attracts more interest is still the typical stone house or farmhouse, mostly favoured by people searching a quiet place to live in, with some land or a garden to enjoy the peace of the nature and relax, better if there’s a swimming pool, or to set up a business such as a B&B. Many buyers prefer to invest in a property to be restored so they can customize their home as they want it. The strong demand of these properties has made its prices go up and for a country house to restore the requests start from 120/130 thousand Euros and from about 250 thousand Euros for the same home properly restored that maintain the original features.
A fairly new tendency is the growing attraction for town houses and apartments located in one of the many stunning hilltop villages. Many people don’t feel like staying in an isolated home, thus they discover the convenience of staying close to shops, services and to other people, having so more contacts with locals and being an inner part of a community that offers the real flavour of true Italian lifestyle.
There are many buyers that think of properties in Umbria as a great investment opportunity, and they think right. For instance Perugia, other than being the Capital and hosting an international airport that well serves all the region, it is also an important university city, well known around the world for its “Universitagrave; per Stranieri” (University for Foreigners). The income potential in this city is very high as there’ll always be a strong need of rental from students and, as it is a very lovely city that attracts big crowds of tourists, it is a very appealing market also for short term and holiday rentals. Another city that attracts many investors is Assisi; the home town of San Francesco is one of the most visited worship places in the whole world, thus one of the most sought after places for property investments.
Umbria is a true jewel and never ends to enchant its many visitors. The word of mouth spread by satisfied and happy owners will always attract home buyers from all over the world, this is mainly why buying a property in Umbria is currently one of the safest and enjoyable place where to invest your savings.
