Generational Changes Bring New Opportunities

“We have more castles available, or other special properties, than apartments in Milan right now.”

Marcus Benussi Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices MAGGI Properties Agency

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices MAGGI Properties Agency became part of the network in January 2019, serving clients in Milan and surrounding regions. Last year, the company launched Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices ROMA IMMOBILIARE to meet the needs of clients within Italy’s capital city.

Marcus Benussi, managing partner and office manager at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices MAGGI Properties Agency, says that the timing has never been better for overseas buyers to invest in country and coastal properties in Italy. This is due to the financial incentives that the Italian government has put in place to increase foreign interest—as well as generational changes taking place in the country that is putting legacy properties on the market often for the first time ever.

“We have more castles available, or other special properties, than apartments in Milan right now,” Benussi explained. “So this is the right moment for the emotional buyer—and also for the buyer who wants to change their personal life, or expand their business throughout Italy. And thanks to new legislation in Italy, whoever invests in these types of properties, if it’s a private investment, the incentives are extraordinary. Right now, newcomers are not only welcome, but all the incentives are geared towards them.”

“Younger generations in Italy are preferring to rent,” he added. “They want smaller homes rather than their grandparents’ big villa—the likes of which are often unaffordable, too big, and don’t suit their needs.

“Therefore, we have an increase in inventory of homes that would have continued to remain in a particular family but, due to these generational changes, they are actually penetrating the market. We’re getting properties in the mountains or countryside that you would have never expected to see on the market a few years ago.”

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Orenda India joined the network in 2021 to serve Delhi National Capital Region. After much success, in 2022, a second office was announced, in the “alpha city” Mumbai, also known as the commercial capital of the country.

With a focus on infrastructure development, improving logistics, and the growing tech industry, buyers around the world are earmarking India for commercial investment—one asset class they are able to purchase.

Sanya Aeren, Chief Advisor, Marketing and Communications, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Orenda India, says the share of foreigners acquiring real estate in India has been significantly increasingly in recent years.

“It has been widely reported that foreign direct investment reached more than US$80 billion between 2021 – 2022,” she said.

Among the many attributes drawing the attention of investors from around the globe, is India’s fast-growing economy. Especially as it has been widely reported that the country is on track to become the world’s third largest economy by the end of the decade.

This has been helped by rising disposable incomes as well as “innovative governmental solutions to supercharge economic growth, including reforms to increase transparency in real estate,” she explained.

Emerging as a major manufacturing hub, the population of more than 1.4 billion is also growing.

“This is India’s story. There is so much work to be done, but this is the next frontier,” said Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Orenda India’s owner, Shrey Aeren. “This is where the action is.”

In the coastal metropolitan of Mumbai, the populous city is home to more than 20 million residents.

He describes these residents as professional and very hard-working, unassuming, and with a love for life.

“The vibrancy of the city is amazing,” he noted.