Why more and more Germans are buying in Italy

Rome The three-storey stone house is newly renovated, in the garden there is a pool and a brick fireplace, the view goes into a green valley. The property in Lisciano Niccone, a hamlet in Umbria on the border with Tuscany, 40 minutes from Perugia, costs 200,000 euros. It is one of 177 properties that Thomas Zabel currently has on offer in Italy – including many properties that are comparatively cheap.

“The areas away from the tourist hotspots in particular tend to be more affordable,” says Zabel, Managing Director of real estate consultants Savills in Germany. These included parts of Piedmont, the region in the northeast with Turin as its capital, or Sicily. In Palermo, for example, the vibrant capital of the island, there are four-room apartments from 145,000 euros.

Regions such as Marche or Umbria are also attractive. “Especially in villages and smaller towns in southern Italy, real estate is also offered to counteract the exodus of the population.”