Sardinia set for ‘staggering growth'?

The stunning growth of Sardinia's property market is beginning to excite prospective investors.

Sardinia has always been a popular tourist destination, if just slightly off the Mediterranean radar. However, it is now becoming increasingly popular as a luxury destination, particularly in view of the number of celebrities now frequenting the island.

Last year alone, Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise spent their summer holidays there and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also has a villa on the island.

With the Emerald Coast close to the city of Olbia now fiercely rivalling the Côte d'Azur in France, property prices are escalating to new heights at an unprecedented rate.

It is not just Sardinia's new found celebrity status that is attracting investors; it is the undertaking by the local authorities in forbidding any new construction within two kilometres of the entire coastline that is propelling it to new heights.

In order to minimize the human impact on the incredible local landscapes, tough new measures were needed and duly implemented.

Safeguarding Sardinia

Such an exclusion zone on new constructions will safeguard Sardinia from the perils of over development.

The move was a risky one, as Sardinia could potentially have missed out on a superb economic growth. However, it has had the opposite affect and existing properties are now growing at a tremendous rate along with new developments albeit away from the frontline position.

Having avoided the obvious pitfalls of overdevelopment, Sardinia's coastline and indeed culture now seems untouchable as it moves into a new era with overseas investment driving Sardinia forward.

Trinidad Passerini, Managing Director of Precious Villas, commented: "Potential investors should in my mind be looking at the south of the island, as this has the biggest investment potential and where I expect to see dramatic growth in the coming years.

"Sardinia is a European market that is going to grow at a staggering rate. I believe it has the presence to go head to head against any of the mainstay European markets and would be my top tip for investment towards the end of this decade.

"The structure is there, the culture is there and the authorities have ensured that the landscape will not be blotted by the greed of overdevelopment.

"We have already seen the early signs of capital appreciation, which have taken most people aback, now continue to watch as Sardinia makes its mark in the European theatre."