Lombardy Region is the gateway to extraordinary real estate

2016 is an exceptional year for Real Estate investments in Europe following an expansion of 48 % of business in 2015, a trend set to continue this year. The attention of foreign investors for the Real Estate sector in Lombardy, and in particular the city of Milan, is growing strongly. According to data from a recent study on emerging trends in Real Estate, the city has entered the top ten favorite destination for investors (Source: PwC and the Urban Land Institute, “Emerging Trends in Real Estate: Europe 2016”).

Lombardy is a thriving, diversified and attractive Real Estate region for any kind of investor. The region accounts for 22% of the national GDP, the highest in Italy, and holds one sixth of the country’s population, making it the second most densely populated region.

Lombardy’s growth has been going steady with the region’s office sector leading in both employment and output, with 30% of total leasing activities coming from international companies and the lowest vacancy rate in the country with a maximum vacancy of 9 months.

Milan, the business and economic capital of the country, results as the Italian Prime city by rental value. From an international point of view, Milan is in the top 20 cities by rental values rivaling that of San Francisco.

The retail sector strengthened in 2015 throughout Italy, with Lombardy ranking as one of the best performing regions by a positive trend of 5.80%. In particular, Lombardy holds 14.6% of the total retail sector of Italy. With Milan at the center of the design and fashion world, retail space can demand up to 8 times the amount of other big cities around the world.

The Industrial and logistics sector in Lombardy is the strongest in Italy with 19.5% of the warehouse space holding 20% of the warehouse stock of the country. In fact, the majority of transactions, from a regional distribution point of view, are registered in Lombardy, which alone represents approximately the 28% of the national share. The residential sub-sector of Lombardy is one of the strongest of the five sub-sectors, hosting 20% of the country’s total number of residential transactions. Hospitality is Italy’s strongest real estate sector and very attractive for hotels due to the country’s steady amount of tourism. In particular, 57.5% of Lombardy’s tourists have international provenance and are attracted to the region’s outstanding destinations, like the city of Milan, one of the favorite shopping destinations in the world, and the other appealing venues and landscapes (old towns, lakes, mountains, etc.) all across the region.

Last March Regione Lombardia, in collaboration with Invest in Lombardy, attended MIPIM with its own stand within the Italian Pavilion.  MIPIM is the primary Real Estate event for Western Europe: with over 22,000 participants from 90 countries, MIPIM 2016, hosted in Cannes, was set to bring in over 5,000 investors.

The Region was there to present more than 20 Real Estate investment opportunities, with an international relevance and a significant ROI, identified together with Invest in Lombardy and Unioncamere Lombardia, in line with the expectations of the operators attending the fair.

Discover more about Real Estate opportunities in Lombardy:

• Lombardy Real Estate opportunities portfolio 
• Lombardy Real Estate video
• Real Estate Analysis: a report made by Invest in Lombardy, in collaboration with our business partner World Capital, shows a general overview of Lombardy and a presentation for each province, focusing on their Office, Retail, Logistic, Residential and Hotel sectors with the aim of giving a complete view of connections and aspects of Lombardy Real Estate market.