Last Tuesday, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced he would be carrying through his campaign pledge to eliminate the main Italian property tax at the first meeting of his new government. So is this a good time to take a bet on Italian property?

The principal Italian property tax (ICI) will cost a lot of money if it is abolished – it is estimated that around 2 billion Euros will be lost. Sceptics claim that if Berlusconi is intending to put all of his pre-election pledges through, he will require 63 billion Euros to fund them all and promises are all well and good, but finding the money will be a lot harder.

Are you looking to buy in Tuscany but aren’t too keen on the prices? Le Marche (pronounced Mar-Kay) may be the alternative you are looking for.

Up until a few years ago, most property investors would not have looked twice at the region however that is starting to change. Italians themselves are flocking to the region alongside the British. The main attraction of the area is the prices – they are much lower than their surrounding neighbours by up to 40%, and yet the area still has beautiful stretches of coastline and beaches. A one-bedroomed flat will probably cost in the region of $200,000, with a three bedroom three-storey townhouse in the $650,000 region, although it is possible to pick up farmhouses from as little as $100,000.