Boom of LUXURY HOMES: bankers and businessmen leave London for Milan

“Milan is a bright spot in the international real estate sector” Big businessmen leave London for Milan. Bloomberg writes underlining the main causes: "generous tax breaks, showy urban development projects and a low cost of living are attracting foreigners and bringing Italians back to Milan". We publish excerpts from the Bloomberg article.

"The market for luxury apartments in Milan is booming as bankers, fund managers and private equity investors are pouring into Italy's financial capital."
"Thousands of foreigners and Italian citizens have moved to the country since the government began granting generous tax breaks in 2017 to attract new arrivals. This has helped tilt Milan's property market towards the high-end, especially as the city has become a popular landing place for financial workers leaving London in the wake of Brexit. The dynamics position Milan as a rare bright spot in the global real estate sector. Rapidly rising interest rates put an end to the cheap money that fueled housing markets from Berlin to Beijing. Italy is well positioned to avoid much of the turmoil because its real estate sector has only slowly recovered from the fallout from the global financial crisis." Since the 2008 crisis, "the European real estate market has gone in a hurry, while Italy has walked. But it has done it consistently, said Mario Breglia of real estate research firm Scenari Immobiliari.

The strategic geographical position of Milan

“Part of the appeal is geographical: Milan is an hour's flight from the financial center of Frankfurt and less than two from London. It's also a two-hour drive from the Mediterranean coast and about an hour-and-a-half drive from Alpine ski resorts. "Milan is a great place to move", said Giovanni Raffa, private banker of Credit Suisse Group AG who moved to Milan at the end of 2021 after 16 years in London. "It is the financial powerhouse of the country, it is well connected to the main hubs of continental Europe and offers a high quality lifestyle". Because the city is so compact, Raffa added, its commute takes about half the time it would take in the UK and features neo-classical and Art Nouveau buildings.”