Needless to say, numbers are down and not by a fraction but a great deal. A notary friend of mine told me recently, that for the very first time in his 35 year career, he had not signed the deeds of a single property transaction during the course of an entire week.

Interestingly though, what is emerging is a market that until now we had not experienced in Marche.

Compared with its more famous neighbours, Tuscany and Umbria, the real estate market is less mature and the region has not yet built a reputation as a smart place to invest, where sheer desirability causes property values to hold their own (better than most) and indeed improve in the medium term. What seems to be happening is that investors in search of desirable properties are looking beyond the tradition regional boundaries. The result is that in Marche where most buyers would buy wrecks to restore, today’s buyers are motivated above all by the aesthetic quality of property and are after beautiful, preferably restored houses whether they be villas, palazzo or farm houses.

This tendency is not proven by any sophisticated statistical analysis but seems to be the prevailing view of my colleagues in other agencies. Furthermore, the average sale value of houses sold by Vinci Properties has risen by more than 115%.

Here is a short list with photographs of recently sold houses.