After effects of the earthquakes in central Italy.

We  were lucky, so far that our house has has little damage and is still habitable.  But were wondering if the earthquakes have caused a downturn in house prices and holiday bookings.
I am sure it has !

I would not say that the earthquakes are to be considered as main culprits for the downturn, although they will certainly be relevant when choosing a particular area. Current political and economic conditions, not only in Italy but throughout the world are putting many moves on hold. We should also consider that Italian banks, are not making it easy for borrowers...
There are many factors and the situation is not clear. We will have to wait to see what happens. And, in general, those who are able to resist and not sell under pressure, tend to come up as winners in the long run. Also, those who are able to buy well priced properties and hold on to them. It has always happened and it will keep on happening...

I agree Gala.  However the sight of buildings that were local known landmarks that are now a pile of rubble may be well off-putting to both buyers and holiday makers in this red zone area...I know I would not consider purchasing a house here and holidays also a no no.  Is it as bad as I assume it is ?

We had quite a lot of wall damage Angie and the house is stated to be un-inhabitable!!
So, we still are staying in the safer areas, the insurance company has provided a temporary house on site, which just needs the gas connection finalised. 2 beds bathroom and kitchen/diner area. It came complete with beds, fridge etc, so cannot thank them enough for the fast response.
Heat pump took a hit, with compressor burnt out and we are now operating on the electric back-up on the system. Insurance has authorised a replacement, so cannot fault them on anything at the moment, but hate to think what the premium could be next year, if they decide to insure us again!!!

So Angie and Geo,

Where would you buy, if you were to do so now?  Geo, would you still buy in your area?  The reason I am asking, as you know, is that we are planning on moving over in September and renting.  We are focusing on the towns of Montelparo, Monte Rinaldo, Ortezzano, Petritoli, Monte GIberto, Monte Rubbiano.

Geotherm wrote:We had quite a lot of wall damage Angie and the house is stated to be un-inhabitable!! So, we still are staying in the safer areas, the insurance company has provided a temporary house on site, which just needs the gas connection finalised. 2 beds bathroom and kitchen/diner area. It came complete with beds, fridge etc, so cannot thank them enough for the fast response.Heat pump took a hit, with compressor burnt out and we are now operating on the electric back-up on the system. Insurance has authorised a replacement, so cannot fault them on anything at the moment, but hate to think what the premium could be next year, if they decide to insure us again!!!

That's good to hear Geo, a temporary house for you to move into straight away.  We too have alot of wall damage but sadly no insurance cover,,,,just too expensive, hopefully your next years premium will not be too harsh and we wont have any more shakey quakies !

Lisa C,

i cannot advise you as to where I would look if buying a property here again in central Italy apart from saying maybe close to the coast would be better than up in the mountains or maybe Tuscany or western Umbria which do not seem to have experienced any earthquakes so far....

Lisa C,

ABSOLUTELY 100% rent for at least a year. The further away from the main fault lines the better I would suggest (obviously!).

Monte Giberto is one of the few villages around here that I have not actually been to, but it is only 30mins from the beaches from there (if you like that!) and probably 90mins from the more recent main epicentres.

A lot (but not all) of the damaged houses that I have seen or heard about have been the older 3 storey, 'staircase up the middle' style.


rent rent rent !!

V

LisaC.
Yes, I think I would still buy in this area, albeit with a more modern rebuilt house in the same style. The problem was that although the renovations put in new floors and a new roof, it was the original walls that flexed too much, hence causing the damage.
We are only a 2 storey building so that helped as well in many ways. 3 storey units seem to have been hit much harder.
We have one 3 storey house just below us, that has been rebuilt in its original style and that just has a few minor cracks. Other friends of ours also had a complete rebuild, with same minor problems.
Coastal areas should be OK.

Angie. I think our insurance was under £400 a year for buildings including earthquake damage and through Intashure. Excess is £5k. Have heard the horror stories of people insured with Italian companies who have 20-30k Euro excess to pay, which is ridiculous in my opinion.

Geo, so sorry to hear about the damage to your house, but you were fortunate to have a good insurance. It is at times like these when you realize the importance of having a good cover, no matter the prize. It happened to us with my husband's stroke while we were travelling and insurance was our life saver. 
Lisa, I would totally agree with Vicino. At this stage, you should rent before taking the plunge. And you need to thoroughly inspect all those areas that you have in mind before making a decision.

Thank you all for responding.  We are definitely renting when we go over.  We had found a house in Petritoli for sale that we were very interested in in September.  However, we brought our muratore friend to see it and he told us that the important wall, which should have been at least 30 cm was only 13cm.  That, along with all of the other work that needed going and the price the owners had paid less than a year ago, made it not worth it.  The current owners will be relocating back to the UK as one partner is too homesick.


Geo and Angie, we are so sorry for the damage that your houses have sustained.  We have friends in both San Ginesio and Montefalcone that currently cannot live in their houses due to the earthquake damage.

Lisa, if you find anything you really like and you would consider buying, bring in a structural engineer to thoroughly check the building. advise what is needed according to latest seismic regulations and to give you an accurate estimate of the works needed. It will have an initial cost, but it would be worth it and it will prevent many headaches in the future. Good luck!

I don't know if you've all heard but there have been two big quakes in Marche again. On top of the very heavy snowfall (1m+ in 48hrs) and no electricity it's making life very very difficult for people.

I hope life settles down soon as I'm sure people can't take much more.

Just terrible! When will it stop... So much suffering for the population.
Hope and pray that all those in the area will be safe. My thoughts are with you all.

Gala Placidia wrote:Lisa, if you find anything you really like and you would consider buying, bring in a structural engineer to thoroughly check the building. advise what is needed according to latest seismic regulations and to give you an accurate estimate of the works needed. It will have an initial cost, but it would be worth it and it will prevent many headaches in the future. Good luck!

Gala,
Thanks so much for the advice.  We will follow your recommendation to have a structural engineer inspect any house we are seriously considering.  Too bad about the last one as we really liked the location.

Admin wrote:I don't know if you've all heard but there have been two big quakes in Marche again. On top of the very heavy snowfall (1m+ in 48hrs) and no electricity it's making life very very difficult for people.I hope life settles down soon as I'm sure people can't take much more.

A friend there told me that there have something like 4 so far.  We feel terribly for everyone and hope that you are all safe.

Just a update on the latest situation here in our house in Marche.
We still use the house during the day, as computer etc is still connected, plus we do need to use other things inside.
The "Wendy House" as we call it is all set up and ready to go.
New heat pump is installed and working beautifully.

Just had the renewal quote for the insurance, which was under £400 last year. This year £1000, with the same cover and still the £5K earthquake excess, so am not complaining. They have spent about 28K euro on the temp house and 14K on the heat pump and just increased the premium by 600 euro.

Geotherm wrote:Just a update on the latest situation here in our house in Marche.We still use the house during the day, as computer etc is still connected, plus we do need to use other things inside.The "Wendy House" as we call it is all set up and ready to go.New heat pump is installed and working beautifully.
Just had the renewal quote for the insurance, which was under £400 last year. This year £1000, with the same cover and still the £5K earthquake excess, so am not complaining. They have spent about 28K euro on the temp house and 14K on the heat pump and just increased the premium by 600 euro.

Geo, that is great news that things are moving forward for you.  It was also reassuring to hear that Instasure will still insure you.  When do you think you will be able to move back into your house?

From what you have seen, do townhouses in centro storico that are on 3 floors fare badly during the quakes?  We have seen a few online with gardens that look interesting but I doubt that they have had anything done as far as anti-seismic fitting goes.

We will be there in September and are in the midst of coordinating everything now for our move.

Hi Lisa
It seems that many of the 3 storey houses were hit quite badly. Ours only has 2 floors, so just the first floor where we normally live was the most affected, with the north and west walls in one corner suffering the worst, but they did not collapse. Now all are propped up in that area. Cannot show pics unfortunately. I certainly would not go for a 3 floor unit.
We have no fears of entering the house, as in fact we were in it during all the shakes.
As to moving back in the house permanently, I think it will be next year, as the legislation is still going the normal Italian slow way.
I must say that I am very impressed with Intasure and the service they provided. Hearing the horror stories of people insured by Italian companies with 20-30k excess shows the greed in this country.

Great to get the update Geo, it is very good indeed to hear that the insurers are doing what you paid them to do. There are others who are still fighting causes !

As it happens, within the next week I am due to renew our house insurance, at present we do not have earthquake cover, I will be adding it on this time.

We are also with Intasure, luckily to date we have not needed assistance from them.

Good luck with the rebuilding !

V

Yes, good to hear the update and to know all is going to plan Geo....well sort of...fingers crossed for the re-build....

Geotherm wrote:Hi LisaIt seems that many of the 3 storey houses were hit quite badly. Ours only has 2 floors, so just the first floor where we normally live was the most affected, with the north and west walls in one corner suffering the worst, but they did not collapse. Now all are propped up in that area. Cannot show pics unfortunately. I certainly would not go for a 3 floor unit.We have no fears of entering the house, as in fact we were in it during all the shakes.As to moving back in the house permanently, I think it will be next year, as the legislation is still going the normal Italian slow way. I must say that I am very impressed with Intasure and the service they provided. Hearing the horror stories of people insured by Italian companies with 20-30k excess shows the greed in this country.

Thanks Geo,  very good information to know.  We will certainly look into Intasure once we find a place to buy.  When we are over for good, we will give you a ring so we can meet up.

Our neightbours below us and to our right have had their houses 'banded'. both are 2nd homes so there will be no earthquake monies to assist with the re-builds.  Both of these houses were 3 stories plus cellars.  Our house only has 2 floors (no cellar) so is short and squat Lisa and apart from cracks in the walls both inside and out no structural damage....we think..  Good luck with your house hunting.

Glad to hear that, in spite of difficulties and turmoil you are slowly going back to normal. Fingers crossed!

Barn to the left of us has had to be pulled down due to weather / earthquakes half of it had come down....Farmer below us had his barn roof collapse, killing 60 sheep all very sad.....getting back to normal Gala is a very very slow process....so many here still homeless and the hotels are chucking them out now the tourist season is a happening....also I believe the govt monies for those displaced has not been paid as promised.....