Real Estate and Real Estate Education in Italy. Assessing the current state of the art

The Italian property market has experienced a sustained period of growth since the end of the 1990s and during the last 10 years. A large amount of this growth is attributed to the fortunes of Rome and, especially, Milan over this period but national growth has been strong in most sectors. Thus the timing of the funds introduction in 1999 coincides with an upward trend in the property cycle, which has seen them establish themselves as sought after assets. During last decade the market has experienced lots of changes due to its financialisation. Major steps have been taken to rectify the paucity of information with the introduction of databases, indexes and benchmarks. Property companies and funds have grown in professional stature. International Valuation Standards have been introduced in professions and, above all, in valuation courses at different levels. Real Estate market affected the area of education through the increase in the number of post graduated courses. Yet, still the offer of Real Estate Education is not very structured in contrast with todayís real estate crisis, which has clearly showed the need for higher skills and knowledge in professions and practices. The paper presents a profile of Real Estate Education provision in Italy. This surveys aims at giving an insight in structure of courses, accreditations, demands and offers. The study is intended to assess the current ìstate of the artî in respect of different European experiences and to provide some perspective for its future development.