Are Chinese and Singaporean Buyers Investing in Italian Real Estate?

Yes, but China and Singapore should not be analysed as the same market.

Chinese demand is more likely to appear in Italy through private buyers, families, entrepreneurs and smaller investors looking for apartments, rental properties, second homes, student-related housing or selected lifestyle assets.

Singapore, by contrast, is more visible as professional and institutional capital: sovereign wealth funds, real estate platforms, hospitality, offices, student housing, managed residential schemes and urban regeneration projects.

This distinction is essential. A Chinese family buying an apartment in Milan is not the same transaction as a Singapore-based investor entering an Italian hospitality or student housing platform. The market logic, legal structure, source-of-funds analysis and due diligence are different.

The strategic conclusion is clear: Italy is attractive to both Chinese and Singaporean capital, but for different reasons and through different channels.

Italy’s residential market is large, liquid and back in growth

"Italy is not a small lifestyle market; it is a deep residential market with a wide range of price points, locations and asset types."

The Italian residential market returned to expansion in 2025. According to the Italian Revenue Agency’s Real Estate Market Observatory, OMI, and ABI, approximately 766,757 residential properties were sold in Italy in 2025, up 6.4% compared with 2024. The total value of residential transactions reached approximately €124 billion, up 8.8%.

This creates a relevant backdrop for foreign buyers. Italy is not a small lifestyle market; it is a deep residential market with a wide range of price points, locations and asset types.

The market is also increasingly segmented. International buyers do not look only for “cheap houses in Italy”. Some search for affordable village homes or properties under €250,000. Others look for prime apartments, lake villas, renovated farmhouses, hospitality assets, rental income, urban regeneration or long-term family wealth protection.

For Chinese and Singaporean capital, this segmentation matters more than generic nationality labels.

Foreign buyers are still a minority, but strategically important

Foreign citizens remain a minority in the Italian residential market. IDOS and Scenari Immobiliari data estimate around 39,000 home purchases by foreign citizens in 2025, equal to approximately 5.1% of the national market, with an estimated value of about €3.4 billion.

This number is much lower than the pre-financial-crisis peak. In 2007, purchases by foreign citizens were reportedly around 135,000, equal to 17.3% of the market. Today, the foreign-buyer market is smaller in volume but more complex in profile.

The relevant point for Mannocci Law Firm’s international audience is that “foreign buyers” are not a single category. There are at least three distinct groups:

1. foreign residents in Italy buying a primary home;

2. non-resident private buyers purchasing second homes or investment properties;

3. institutional or professional investors acquiring real estate through funds, companies or platforms.

China is more visible in the first two categories. Singapore is more visible in the third.

China: private buyers, family wealth and diversification

There is no complete public Italian database showing exactly how many residential properties are purchased every year by Chinese citizens in Italy. The available data must therefore be read through proxies: foreign-citizen purchase estimates, international real estate demand, migration patterns, business communities and broader Chinese outbound investment behaviour.

IDOS and Scenari Immobiliari indicate that Chinese buyers and buyers from the Indian subcontinent are stable at around 10% of purchases by foreign citizens. Applied to the estimated 39,000 foreign-citizen purchases in 2025, this suggests an order of magnitude of approximately 3,900 transactions for that broader Asian component. This should be treated as an editorial estimate, not as an official nationality-by-nationality notarial series.

The market profile is nevertheless clear.

Chinese buyers in Italy are often private buyers rather than institutional real estate capital. They may include families purchasing an apartment for children studying in Italy, entrepreneurs linked to Italian business districts, foreign residents buying their first home, or private investors looking for rental income and long-term diversification.

The weakness of China’s domestic real estate sector is also relevant. Reuters reported that in 2024 Chinese real estate investment fell by 10.6%, property sales by floor area declined by 12.9%, and new construction starts fell by 23%. This does not automatically mean that Chinese buyers will buy in Italy, but it explains why part of Chinese private wealth may look abroad for diversification, stability and education-linked assets.

Another useful proxy is the United States. The National Association of Realtors reported that Chinese buyers were the largest foreign buyer group in the U.S. residential market by dollar volume in 2025, purchasing approximately $13.7 billion of existing homes. Again, this is not an Italian statistic. But it confirms that Chinese buyers remain capable of deploying significant capital in mature residential markets abroad.

What Chinese buyers may look for in Italy

Chinese demand in Italy can be divided into four practical profiles.

The first is the family and education buyer. This profile looks at apartments in cities such as Milan, Rome, Florence, Bologna and other university or business centres. The purpose may be study, family use, safety of capital, or future residence planning.

The second is the entrepreneurial or resident buyer. In areas with strong Chinese communities and commercial activity, including parts of Tuscany and Northern Italy, real estate may be connected to business, family settlement or local integration.

The third is the private investment buyer. This buyer may look for smaller apartments, income-producing properties, medium-term rentals, student housing exposure or tourist rental opportunities in cities and historic destinations.

The fourth is the lifestyle or high-net-worth buyer. This profile may consider villas, restored farmhouses, lake properties, coastal homes or prime city apartments in Rome, Florence, Milan or Venice.

Gate-away’s international buyer data are useful here even when not China-specific. International demand for Italian property continues to favour apartments, villas and detached homes, with strong interest in renovated or immediately habitable properties. This is consistent with the needs of foreign buyers who want to reduce renovation risk and operational complexity.

However, “ready to move in” does not mean legally safe. In Italy, a renovated property may still have planning irregularities, cadastral inconsistencies, condominium restrictions or unresolved building issues.

Singapore: institutional capital, not mass private buying

"Publicly available data do not show a large flow of Singaporean private residential buyers purchasing homes in Italy at scale."

Singapore tells a different story.

Publicly available data do not show a large flow of Singaporean private residential buyers purchasing homes in Italy at scale. Singapore appears more clearly as a source of sophisticated institutional capital.

The best example is GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund. GIC acquired an approximately 35% stake in Hotel Investment Partners, a platform with 72 hotels and more than 21,000 rooms across Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal. This is not a private holiday-home purchase; it is a hospitality platform strategy.

Singapore’s relevance is therefore more connected to professional investment themes:

• hotels and resorts;

• office and mixed-use assets;

• student housing;

• managed residential schemes;

• urban regeneration;

• brown-to-green investment;

• long-term income-producing platforms.

This profile fits the evolution of the Italian institutional real estate market. In recent years, international capital has been particularly active in hospitality, offices, retail, living, logistics and student accommodation. Italy remains under-supplied in certain operational real estate sectors, especially student housing and managed living, which makes it attractive for investors seeking scale and structural demand.

The Milan Olympic Village is a good example of the direction of travel in the market. COIMA has described the project as a future 1,700-bed student accommodation scheme after the 2026 Winter Olympics, with a strong urban regeneration and social impact profile. Whether or not a specific Singaporean investor is involved in a single asset, the asset class itself is exactly the type of professional real estate product that is more coherent with Singapore-style institutional capital than with ordinary private second-home buying.

China vs Singapore: two different investment logics

The core distinction is strategic.

Chinese buyers are more likely to be driven by family needs, education, diversification, entrepreneurship, rental income and lifestyle. The transaction is often residential and personal, even when it has an investment component.

Singaporean capital is more likely to be driven by yield, scale, platform economics, professional management, hospitality, urban transformation and long-term institutional allocation.

This leads to two different legal and commercial realities.

For Chinese buyers, the key issues are usually eligibility to buy, reciprocity, source of funds, banking documentation, personal or family structure, property due diligence, tax, inheritance and whether the acquisition should be made personally or through a company.

For Singapore-based investors, the focus often shifts to corporate authority, fund structure, beneficial ownership, anti-money laundering review, tax efficiency, asset management, lease analysis, planning rules, financing, ESG standards and exit strategy.

The same Italian property market therefore produces two very different legal mandates.

The legal point: market opportunity does not remove transaction risk

Both Chinese and Singaporean buyers are non-EU buyers, so the Italian legal framework must be checked carefully.

Under Article 16 of the preliminary provisions to the Italian Civil Code, foreign citizens are admitted to enjoy civil rights in Italy subject to reciprocity, unless special laws provide otherwise. In practice, a non-EU non-resident buyer may need confirmation that an Italian citizen would be allowed to carry out an equivalent transaction in the buyer’s country.

There are exceptions. For example, certain non-EU citizens legally resident in Italy may be able to purchase property without the same reciprocity analysis, provided the relevant residence conditions are met.

For Singapore, reciprocity can be particularly interesting because Singapore itself distinguishes between categories of property. Foreign persons generally require approval to purchase landed residential property in Singapore. This can matter when the Italian asset is not a simple apartment, but a villa, land, or a property with characteristics that require a more careful comparative analysis.

For China, the practical issue is often source of funds. The Italian bank, notary and professionals involved in the transaction must understand the origin of the money, the payment route and the beneficial owner. Currency controls and cross-border transfers can make early documentation essential.

In both cases, the transaction should be prepared before the buyer signs a binding offer or pays a deposit.

Market conclusion

China and Singapore are both relevant to Italian real estate, but they represent different forms of demand.

China is more visible through private residential demand: families, students, entrepreneurs, residents, smaller investors and selected high-net-worth buyers. The assets are often apartments, rental units, second homes, hospitality-related properties or lifestyle homes.

Singapore is more visible through institutional and professional capital: hospitality platforms, funds, student housing, managed living, offices and regeneration projects. The assets are more likely to be scalable, managed and income-producing.

For sellers, agents and investors, this distinction matters. A Chinese buyer may need reassurance, legal clarity and transaction support in English. A Singaporean investor may require a more structured legal and investment analysis.

For buyers, the message is equally clear: Italy is open, but not informal. The market opportunity must be matched by legal certainty.

Mannocci Law Firm assists international clients in Italian real estate matters, with particular focus on cross-border buying, legal due diligence, reciprocity, source-of-funds issues, contract review and transaction structuring. The firm provides independent legal assistance in English to foreign buyers, families, investors and companies entering the Italian property market.

If you are a Chinese or Singaporean buyer, or if you are advising capital from China or Singapore on an Italian real estate transaction, independent legal review should come before the offer, not after the problem appears.

Discover more at: Mannocci Law Firm — Legal Solutions

Author

Attorney Andrea Mannocci, Founder, Mannocci Law Firm, Italian Real Estate Lawyer assisting international clients in property acquisitions, due diligence, cross-border buying, real estate disputes, successions and asset protection matters in Italy. Mannocci Law Firm is an independent legal practice based in Tuscany, Italy, with offices in Florence and Pisa. The firm provides legal assistance in English to international clients involved in Italian real estate transactions and related cross-border matters.

Sources

Italian Revenue Agency / OMI and ABI, Residential Real Estate Report 2026; IDOS and Scenari Immobiliari data on foreign citizens and housing in Italy; Gate-away international buyer reports; Reuters reporting on the Chinese real estate market; National Association of Realtors 2025 International Transactions in U.S. Residential Real Estate; GIC materials on Hotel Investment Partners; COIMA materials on the Milan Olympic Village and student housing; Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reciprocity guidance; Italian Notariat materials on foreign buyers and reciprocity; Singapore Land Authority guidance on foreign ownership of residential property; Mannocci Law Firm website and Cross-Border Buying service page.

This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, financial, immigration or investment advice. Italian real estate transactions involving Chinese, Singaporean or other non-EU buyers must be assessed case by case, considering nationality, residence status, reciprocity, property documentation, source of funds, tax position, beneficial ownership, investment structure and intended use of the property. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship with Mannocci Law Firm.