Reasons to buy real estate in Italy

The weather is superb. The food is magnificent – and by happy coincidence accords with what we now know to be a nutritious healthy diet. Wine is good, plentiful and cheap, and there is an indefinable brio about Italy … this is a land where people enjoy life and take their time about it. The driving may sometimes be frenetic, but the things that matter: meals, time with the family, holidays, evening passeggiata are taken at leisure.

Choosing a region of Italy to live in

Italy is also still very much a country of the regions, and of the old city states – and will doubtless remain so for all time. People are Umbrians, Sicilians or Romans first … Italians second: the country seems cleverly to have resisted the blanding out we see in much of our culture. Of course this makes the choice of where you buy your Italian real estate all the more crucial – do you want to live among the solid contadini of Tuscany or the more passionate Neapolitans?

It’s a country of extraordinary and exciting contrasts –. Do you buy an Italian villa in the comfortable, affluent reaches of Piedmont, or snap up a development property in undiscovered Basilicata? Do you want your Italian property to be within reach of the ski resorts of the Apennines or the beaches of the Mediterranean? …. Actually it can be both.

Finding real estate in Italy

Buying property in Italy will change your life and – for purchasers from the UK and US – the country offers real value for money; and you don’t have to stray too far from the perennially popular heartlands of Tuscany and Umbria before you find some remarkable bargains. Whether you’re looking for a luxurious apartment in Venice or a ruined farm in Basilicata available for a song, you’ve come to the right place.

We aim to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision on searching for, finding and buying the right property in Italy. We’ll help you decide which Italian region is right for you, and what type of Italian property you should be looking for. We’ll give you guidance on prices and on the whole business of buying a home in Italy. But as we asked at the start – ‘Why buy in Italy? There are a hundred reasons.

Italy property searches on KeyItaly

You can search this site by region or by price bracket. Wherever you’re looking in Italy, you’ll find property on KeyItaly. But the first thing to do is familiarise yourself with the country, the culture and the differences between different areas. Go to our region guides to start with. You will also want to familarise yourself with the buying process — this is real estate purchase but not as we know it. And you will want to learn what it’s like to live in Italy, whether this is going to be a holidy home, a second home or your permanent domicile.