In a troubled world, we gain solace from spiritual uplift and physical beauty. Few places have the ability to touch the heart and move minds like Venice. For decades it has been a place to visit rather than one in which to buy property, but gradually things are changing. British estate agents have developed connections there, and some big money is about to arrive. "Ocean's nursling", as Shelley described it, is becoming a connoisseur's place to purchase.
"British buyers have taken flight to quality during the recession," says Claire Hazle , of Knight Frank's international desk. "They will now only look in tried and tested places they know and love. They have moved away from the emerging markets of Eastern Europe which they were interested in a few years ago."
What could be more indulgent than owning a flat in the city painted by Monet and Turner, from which you can hear the cries of the gondoliers through the window? The San Marco Piazza, the Doge's Palace, the Basilica San Marco, the Campanile and the Santa Maria dela Salute across the mouth of the Grand Canal, constitute one of the world's gold-star urban settings. The luxury hotels and restaurants pull in high spenders. Of course, San Marco is the area where most would choose to buy, but can they afford it?
A luxurious three-bedroom apartment with a small gym, private canal entrance and views of the Campanile offers rare modernised glamour at £1.2m. A more old-fashioned three-bedroom apartment with wooden floors, exposed beams and copious bookshelves in the San Samuele area of San Marco costs £960,000, both through Knight Frank (020 7629 8171). "There is a shortage of new and newly restored property as Venice is naturally a limited market," says Claire.
It has long been a difficult place for buyers to get to grips with. Local agents can seem to operate slowly and mysteriously (as they work for buyer and seller). But Knight Frank has established links with Venice Real Estate, run by a member of a well-established local family, Franco Bombassei. Search agents are moving in too. Paul Hudson, formerly of buying agents Property Finders, is working for English buyers here (wordandbuyer.co.uk). He says the euro crisis has slowed the market considerably but buyers are coming back to store capital in Venetian property. "Prices don't drop, so much as sales speed up or slow down," he says.
Source: Telegraph
