Â鶹ӳ»­

Cross-border real estate investors looking for exposure in Southern Europe should consider Italy's tourism sector, PropertyEU's briefing on the Italian market has heard.

The expert panel during the briefing hosted by K&L Gates’ London office in mid-May were asked how they would each spend a theoretical €500 mln in the Italian real estate market.

Gabriele Pompei, head of capital markets at K2Real, said he would definitely use leverage, and would focus on important sectors such as tourism. 'Southern Italy is not just good for shopping centres but for resorts too. Here, returns on investments can be quite high.'

Pompei said he would also explore putting some of the money into converting downtown offices into residential. 'This would not necessarily be luxury accommodation. Instead, I see potential for student accommodation or care homes with good standards and good facilities.'

Francesco Sanna, a partner in law firm K&L Gates’ Milan office said he would also tap into tourism. 'I would invest in luxury resorts and the public asset development sector. You need to find a very good operator but these sectors are on the rise.'

Sonae Sierra’s head of asset management Alexandre Fernandez expressed a preference for dominant near-prime shopping centres, or good shopping with redevelopment possibilities. But Fernandez warned that buyers had to be very selective.

Mauro Montagner, CEO of Allianz Real Estate Italy, said one could invest part of the notional €500 mln opportunistically. 'For an investor seeking to use €100 mln in opportunistic high returns and the rest in safe investments, I would suggest retail from high street to development. Core office is interestingly priced and I would definitely look at the government’s privatisation plans.'

for more on PropertyEU's latest and upcoming investment briefings.