In some of Italy’s most exclusive areas, the majority of demand for luxury villas or apartments (with average prices exceeding one and a half million euros) comes from foreign buyers. This is revealed by a report from idealista/data, which also highlights that the top 10 most sought-after locations among wealthy buyers worldwide for single-family homes consist solely of towns in Tuscany or on Lake Como.
Where are foreign buyers looking for villas for sale in Italy?
The Italian location with the highest percentage of foreign demand is San Miniato, a town of just under 30,000 inhabitants in the province of Pisa. Here, an impressive 82.9% of searches on idealista are conducted by foreign buyers. The most represented nationality is American (19.8%), followed by German (10.8%) and Dutch (6.7%) buyers.
Rounding out the top three are two locations on Lake Como, a long-standing jewel of beauty with a unique charm for high-spending clientele. Specifically, Carate Urio ranks second with 76.5% of foreign demand for villas for sale, followed by Menaggio with 75.1%.
The rest of the top ten is dominated by locations in the province of Como (Griante, Campione d’Italia, Argegno, and Laglio) and Versilia (the Area Moriano-Brancoli district and the historic centre of Lucca, as well as the Strettoia-Capezzano-Valdicastello area in Pietrasanta).
To find the first southern Italian location, one must go down to the 16th position, where Noto appears with 64.8% of foreign demand for villas for sale on Idealista.
Meanwhile, the most expensive location among those analysed is the Roma Imperiale area in Forte dei Marmi, where the average asking price for a villa is €8.9 million. Here, 40.6% of demand comes from international buyers.
Where are foreign buyers looking for apartments for sale in Italy?
The landscape changes significantly when looking at searches for luxury apartments. The most sought-after location among foreign buyers on Idealista is Capri, where 65.1% of total searches are from international clients, with an average property price of €3 million.
Completano il podio la zona di Castello a Venezia (62,1%) e Salò in provincia di Brescia (61,8%). Nutrita anche la presenza di Firenze in top ten, che piazza ben 4 quartieri (Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, Duomo-San Marco e Oltrarno-San Frediano-Santo Spirito) tra le località più cercati dagli stranieri interessati a un appartamento di lusso in Italia.
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