Summer is over and foreign buyers are back. October marks the start of the next buying cycle for investors and holiday home hunters
The Ostuni Market
Like the local produce and the weather, house hunting in Puglia follows a seasonal pattern. Over summer the market is mainly domestic. Activity picks up with foreign investors and holiday home buyers from October to December and again in Spring.
For the last two weeks we have been working with a client looking for a “casa indipendente” as an rental investment.
She was willing to take on a renovation project but equally, should the perfect ready to let apartment appear, that too was an option.
The first consideration is where to look.
For a rental investment the driver is maximising rental income. This meant advising on which parts of Puglia had a longer season to support sustained demand.
Most visitors look for a central location as a base. They may want to be close to the sea, but the chances are they may will want to visit Polignano a Mare and Alberobello, often Lecce and sometimes Matera in the neighbouring region of Basilicata. Accessibility to Puglia’s main airports is important.
Ostuni is the obvious solution on all counts.
The next consideration is - once again - where to look. Where to look in Ostuni. Most visitors want to stay in and around the historic centre: Via Ludovico - Corso Umberto I - Vittorio Emanuele, Ostuni.
So, location, location… and terraces then features. The focus shifts to what type of property to look at.
A terrace is a must. Vaulted star ceilings and stripped back stone walls are also on the list. Anything else isn’t attractive to the majority of visitors looking for a classic Ostuni rental.
And so we begin our search, viewing as many properties within those search parameters and budget - and round about. Near misses are sometimes useful to put everything else into context… and then some!