The purposes of buying real estate in Sicily are the same as in the other parts of the world. People either want to invest money or to have a nice place for holidays. In both cases buyers and investors can find either a vein of gold or the source of the joy of life or a risk to lose all their money. It depends on the accuracy of the information the buyers have.
Sicily is considered to be the region of the future. It means that the tourist and investment potential of the island has not been realized yet and the level of infrastructure development is rather low if to compare with the whole country of Italy. In many guide books of Sicily such popular resorts as Cefalu and Marsala are called unexplored places.
So, if you want to buy a house in Sicily, you should know the following. Firstly, you should know that after 2002, when Euro became an official currency in Italy, the prices of real estate in Sicily and in Italy in general have grown 50%. For those, who want to invest into real estate in Sicily it means that the rate of growth of profits will not be great for the nearest years. Now the profit of the investments in the construction industry in Sicily is about 10-20%. If you want to let new apartments, your profit will not be higher than 8% a year.
For those, who want to buy a villa or apartments in Sicily for holidays such economic situation is advantageous. They may not hurry and choose a house for their taste without any risk.
In general, starting from 2005 real estate in Sicily has been constantly growing 7-8% a year. The average cost of a square meter of dwelling in a tourist zone of the island is about 2000 Euros. This cost is practically the same as the cost of villas on the Mediterranean coast of Spain and Greece. The capital of Sicily, the city of Palermo, is considered to be the cheapest among the Italian cities. The cost of a square meter of a new dwelling there is about 2700 Euros. The average cost of renting a villa at the sea-coast of Sicily is about 1500-2000 Euros per week.
You should pay attention to the fact that there is a special classification of dwellings in Italy and in Sicily. It is done mostly to establish a flexible system of taxation. The taxes for dwellings of economical class are low and the cost of public services is low too. Elite dwelling is considered to be a house and a territory around it not less than 3000 square kilometers. The territory of agricultural use is not considered to be a part of elite dwelling in Sicily. The total area of an elite villa must be not less than 200 square meters. The cost of decoration for a villa is also taken into account: the more expensive the materials are and the higher the cost of work is, the higher the taxes will be. The flats and apartments, the total area of which is more than 160 square meters, are considered to be of elite class. The flats and apartments of less area are the dwellings of economical class.
