As people rethink their lifestyles, new definitions are imposed, even for luxury. As the intangible assets of family, health, space and safety are realigned, so too the priorities in the luxury market change and the new living trends are strengthened.
The value that customers award to their house and in general to the place where they live is more important than ever, especially in relation to their health and protection of loved ones and about possibility of a first or second home often equipped with a pool, high technologies, gym or any kind of comfort.
At the same time, the role of real estate professionals, above all the property finder as a trusted advisor alongside with the investor and the client, has become particularly strategic.
In 2020, we as professionals found ourselves playing a central role as effective advisors and guides in the lives of our customers, providing reassurance and insights about real estate market and taking care of communication, crucial aspect when the properties remained in a sort of limbo.
From 2021 onwards we find ourselves studying technologies and practices to restart by identifying the main requirements for those who invest and for those who buy.
The whole sector related to the Internet of Things and its applications in home automation, from the smart home to the possibilities of intertwining technology and home fitness, offers increasingly advanced possibilities for a real wellness design.
This is demonstrated by the constant rise of residences that have exclusive equipment that can be controlled with the voice, from bikes connected to equipment that integrate digital shopping to areas for yoga / meditation and spa areas in the bedroom.
Water purification and circadian lighting systems are options that are increasingly requested by the buyer of luxury homes; air filtering protocols represent an increasingly requested practice for common areas in residential projects.
Our job of dedicated consultants, such as those of interior designers and architects, will be deeply influenced by the just passed period.
For many people, being able to spend time in contact with nature, a valid support for health and well-being, has redesigned the priorities of their lifestyle.
This awareness leads us to look for properties in locations far from large centers, which can offer recreational and outdoor sports activities, from sailing to water sports practicable on the lake, and in general properties in large green spaces, with meadows and dream views, and surrounding landscapes that can offer the pleasure of mountain biking and hiking.
If the need for privacy and confidentiality has always been at the forefront of the requests of buyers of luxury homes, from 2020 onwards it has also driven demand in the second home market, identifying in particular locations that can be reached autonomously with their own means.
The demand for an improvement of living spaces is growing and will continue to grow, not only in terms of physical space and square footage, but also of the advantage represented by gardens and terraces, which even symbolically represented a breath of fresh air in times of lockdown.
The need for privacy is combined with that of merging life, work and family in exclusive properties, but located in the center of areas designed with intelligence, able to offer every type of service.
The particular period we have gone through has made new working methods, streamlining of practices and new ways of concluding negotiations indispensable.
In the same way, the destinations of real estate investments will also respond more and more to the logic of flexibility and reuse.
2020 was a year of crisis and losses, but also a year of great reinvention and response to the crisis: with a gradual normalization of remote work, new transfer possibilities opened up.
In the luxury sector, buyers have begun to review their spending habits and wonder which living and working space could best meet their needs.
Among the wealthy buyers, the latest studies identify explorers, those who leave the metropolis behind and go in search of hidden jewels and exclusive locations not too far from services and a sporty and healthy lifestyle.
They tend to be entrepreneurs, business executives or in any case professionals between 40 and 50 years of age, who can work remotely and want to indulge in a healthier life.
Another group that has emerged is that of buyers – over 50 years of age and with greater patrimony, often collectors and boat owners – who have flocked to their favorite holiday destinations and started to toy with the idea of moving permanently in areas that guarantee freedom, clean air and nature.
Many are already transforming what was just the idea of a second home into a main residence project.
Studies carried out by analysts for the luxury property sector predict that the demand for second homes, which at the same time represent escape routes and increasingly popular residences, could influence buyers for at least the next five years.
Another trend that will probably continue to strengthen in the coming years is the demand for new properties, ready for the move.
In fact, the prospect of lengthy renovations in the period of Covid-19 has discouraged many from facing the idea of buying a property that is not ready immediately. This could lead investors to consider more and more large-scale residential and commercial projects, attentive to green building, the sustainability of the materials used and the elegance of the final image, ready to be put on the market with the full willingness to live there.
The pandemic has broken the trend of the past few years to buy smaller homes, returning to larger and more spacious dimensions.
The outdoor spaces, for example, have jumped to first place in the ranking of the luxuries that buyers with availability allow themselves: from large courtyards to outdoor pools, from the patio to the garden, from the covered terrace that can also be used in winter to all spaces outdoor liveable in every season.
Another fundamental request is offices and recording rooms, home office spaces able to ensure tranquility even for families with children. This request will probably settle in a stable way in the coming years.
Saunas and Turkish baths, small SPA, design styles that are slightly warmer, traditional and comfortable – if not rustic, compared to the overwhelming power of modern or contemporary – are starting to be particularly coveted together with the breathtaking views.
The specific situation on the national scene is profoundly influenced by all the trends listed so far, in particular the renewed desire for peace, quiet and a healthier life.
The demand for spectacular views and large outdoor spaces is confirmed. Lake view solutions are the most coved by high-spending buyers, in particular Garda Lake continues to grow as a destination not only for tourism but also as a residential one.
There is also a trend towards a new approach to hospitality: from the reconversion of spaces previously designed only for catering to sport & wellness areas, up to the consolidation of hybrid phenomena between hospitality and residence, such as that of the condhotel.
This results in investments on the front of a formula that combines the services of an exclusive accommodation with the safety of a property.
Among the global trends listed so far, in the beautiful country and in particular on the shores of Garda Lake we see the strengthening of the request, by buyers with high spending capacity, to be able to practice water sports and trekking in the territory and in the vicinity of the own home, significantly raising the budget for solutions near airy and rich territories, such as our Garda Lake.
