Can foreigners buy property in Italy?

Yes. Citizens of the EU, and of countries with a reciprocity agreement with Italy — which includes the UK, US, Canada and Australia — can buy freely. You need an Italian tax code, the codice fiscale, and the sale is completed before a notary.

Does buying property in Italy give you residency or citizenship?

No. Owning a house in Italy gives you no right to live there and no path to citizenship. A non-EU owner can stay 90 days in any 180 like any visitor; to live there you still need a visa, though the house counts as the accommodation it asks for.

What taxes do you pay when buying a house in Italy?

Buying from a private seller, the registration tax is 9% of the property's cadastral value — an official figure usually well below the price — or 2% if it becomes your main home, with a minimum of €1,000. Buying from a developer is charged VAT instead. Notary fees are on top.

How much does it cost to buy a house in Italy?

Beyond the price, allow roughly €2,500–4,000 for notary, registration and searches even on a cheap house, and a few hundred for a survey. Then renovation: from €250–€550 per square metre for a house that needs work, up to €1,500 for a ruin.

Can I get a mortgage in Italy as a foreigner?

Italian banks do lend to non-residents, usually at a lower loan-to-value than to residents and after more paperwork. Most people buying the cheapest houses buy outright, and many fund the renovation separately.

Where can I find property in Italy by the sea?

Coastal towns are the most expensive in every region. The value is usually a few kilometres inland, in the hill towns that are losing people — each region page ranks them, and every comune page shows the town's figures and neighbours.

The guide · buying property in Italy

Buying property in Italy

Italy has more empty houses than almost anywhere in Europe, and the cheapest are in towns that are losing people. Buying one as a foreigner is straightforward legally. What catches people out is the order of the paperwork and the cost of making the house liveable.

Updated September 2026 · figures from ISTAT

Houses for sale Work out the true cost

How buying a house in Italy works

Get a codice fiscale. Free, from a consulate or the Agenzia delle Entrate. Nothing else can happen without it.
Have the house surveyed by a geometra before you commit. It tells you whether the roof is a repair or a rebuild.
Make an offer — the proposta — usually with a small deposit.
Sign the preliminary contract, the compromesso, and pay a larger deposit, typically 10–30%.
Complete before the notary at the rogito, which transfers ownership. The notary is neutral and works for the deed, not for you.

What buying property in Italy really costs

The price on the listing is the smallest part of it for most of the houses people from abroad look at. The rest, in order:

Notary, registration tax and searches: roughly €2,500–4,000 even on a cheap house.
A survey: €400–900, and the best money in the whole process.
Translation and a professional to read the contracts for you, if you do not read Italian.
Renovation, which on a cheap house is most of the bill:

Condition	Renovation, per m²
Structural rebuild	€900–€1,500
Full renovation	€600–€1,100
Refurbishment	€250–€550
Cosmetic and updates	€80–€250
Move-in, minor snagging	€0–€60

Put a real house into the calculator — or get three builder quotes against one specification.

Houses for sale in Italy: where they come from

The portals show houses listed with agents, mostly in towns people have heard of. The cheapest property in Italy comes from three other places:

One-euro schemes, where a comune sells empty houses for a nominal price in return for renovating them.
Court auctionsCourt auctions, where repossessed houses sell well below market with no agent's fee.
Owners selling privately, often in towns with no estate agent at all.

See cheap houses in Italy for how each works.

Property in Italy, region by region

Every region, with its towns ranked by how much they need people — which is where houses sit empty longest.

Buying property in Italy: questions people ask

Can foreigners buy property in Italy?: Yes. Citizens of the EU, and of countries with a reciprocity agreement with Italy — which includes the UK, US, Canada and Australia — can buy freely. You need an Italian tax code, the codice fiscale, and the sale is completed before a notary.
Does buying property in Italy give you residency or citizenship?: No. Owning a house in Italy gives you no right to live there and no path to citizenship. A non-EU owner can stay 90 days in any 180 like any visitor; to live there you still need a visa, though the house counts as the accommodation it asks for.
What taxes do you pay when buying a house in Italy?: Buying from a private seller, the registration tax is 9% of the property's cadastral value — an official figure usually well below the price — or 2% if it becomes your main home, with a minimum of €1,000. Buying from a developer is charged VAT instead. Notary fees are on top.
How much does it cost to buy a house in Italy?: Beyond the price, allow roughly €2,500–4,000 for notary, registration and searches even on a cheap house, and a few hundred for a survey. Then renovation: from €250–€550 per square metre for a house that needs work, up to €1,500 for a ruin.
Can I get a mortgage in Italy as a foreigner?: Italian banks do lend to non-residents, usually at a lower loan-to-value than to residents and after more paperwork. Most people buying the cheapest houses buy outright, and many fund the renovation separately.
Where can I find property in Italy by the sea?: Coastal towns are the most expensive in every region. The value is usually a few kilometres inland, in the hill towns that are losing people — each region page ranks them, and every comune page shows the town's figures and neighbours.

Keep reading