A wider adoption of the SIIQ real estate investment trust regime would increase transparency and put the Italian market back on the investment map, Kempen & Co's executive director of corporate finance, Dirk Boer, told delegates at the Expo Italia Real Estate fair in Milan during a conference held on Thursday.

'On the European scene, Italy remains the big contradiction: while the listed sector clearly recovered across Europe, the Italian market has remained flat, with a remarkably small listed sector,' Boer said.

He pointed to Germany as an example of successful market recovery. 'Germany saw a number of IPOs being announced in the past months, and the share of the listed sector has already increased its share from 3% to 6% of the market. This is an indication that Germany is ready for further growth.'

Similar to Germany, Italy has introduced the SIIQ regime (REITs) back in 2007 but so far only two companies have converted to the tax-efficient status, Beni Stabili and IGD. Boer said that he doesn't see potential candidates for the SIIQ regime among the other Italian listed firms. 'They do not generate enough rental income,' he said. However, he added, 'there is an abundance of great real estate in the market which is not listed'.

'Now I ask the audience: how can we help the Italian listed sector to grow?,' he concluded.