Italy’s eternal cities

“Travelling is the ruin of all happiness!” wrote the English novelist Fanny Burney in 1782, after returning from an Italian trip. “There’s no looking at a building after seeing Italy.” From aristocrats soaking up culture on the grand tour to Hollywood stars savouring the dolce vita of the 1960s, Italy has long exerted a powerful pull – a favourite location for second homes and, increasingly, primary residences.

“Our first associations when thinking about Italy tend to be antiquities and landscapes,” says Jelena Cvjetkovic, director, Savills global residential network. “But let’s not forget the contemporary – vibrant cities such as Rome, Milan, Florence and Palermo.” What’s more, she points out, if you long for “a more bucolic lifestyle, perhaps a period home somewhere rustic or coastal in Tuscany, Liguria or the Lakes, you’re seldom far from a city with a great cultural and lifestyle offering”. For residents of Milan or Venice, the mountains are within easy striking distance for a weekend’s skiing.

Italy’s attractions make it “one of the most popular locations for second-home ownership in Europe”, says Kelcie Sellers, associate director in the Savills world research team. And small wonder: it has 5,000 miles of coastline; fine seaside towns, from Portofino to Positano; 74 mountain ranges, with wonderful ski resorts such as Cortina d’Ampezzo; 1,500 lakes, including Como, Garda and Maggiore; and some of the finest art, architecture and design in the western hemisphere.

Today, a flat rate of tax on income earned outside the country of €200,000 a year, introduced to attract high-net-worth individuals, is encouraging many to make Italy the location of their primary residence. Likewise, the impatriati regime, a tax structure designed for specialised professionals, is persuading highly paid employees to relocate to Italy.

Milan as a lifestyle choice
Italy’s business centre and economic powerhouse has recently emerged as a desirable destination for international purchasers, notably from the UK, Germany, Switzerland and the US. “Buyers looking proactively in Milan – rather than being sent here to work, say, by their bank – is a relatively new thing,” says Cvjetkovic. She believes this has been sparked to some extent by that flax tax arrangement, coupled with Milan’s strategic location at the heart of Europe: great road, rail and air links make the city an excellent base for anyone with international business interests. At €16,000 a square metre, this is Italy’s most expensive prime market, yet at 15% below the average London prime property price, Milan still seems relatively good value.

Along with the buzz generated by its international fashion weeks and the annual Salone del Mobile design festival, Milan has a vibrant year-round cultural life, from art at the Pinacoteca di Brera or Fondazione Prada to opera at La Scala – along with a roster of top international schools. From the splendid Duomo to the cobbled streets of Brera, there is much to love.

Rome enjoys a reboot
“Rome’s history is incredibly accessible,” says Alessandro Sangermano, Savills Rome residential team director. “You feel it everywhere. I’m a Roman, born and bred, but I still love to get on my bike and get lost in the streets.” And what streets – from dreamy, cobbled Via Margutta, with its links to Federico Fellini, to the ever-lively Lungaretta in Trastevere. The city’s illustrious past and rich cultural offering remain key for many buyers, Sangermano explains, as does the stability of its real-estate market. He also points to a wave of five-star hotel openings – Bulgari, Six Senses and Edition – that have confirmed Rome’s status as a desirable high-end destination.

Rome’s metro system is expanding and Fiumicino is often voted one of Europe’s best airports. It is no surprise, then, that prime property here remains in high demand, with prices forecast to rise by between 2% and 3.9% in 2024. Apartments in historic residences and panoramic villas with gardens are top of international buyers’ wish lists. “The city preserves its history on every corner, but at the same time it’s evolving with a vibrant energy,” says Sangermano.

Florence and Tuscany’s enduring appeal
“Florence is a great place to live – and you can get anywhere by bicycle,” says Cvjetkovic. “It’s vibrant, with exceptional culture, but manageable in terms of scale, and there’s a thriving bar and restaurant scene.” International investors account for nearly 40% of non-Italian purchasers, with the UK, the US, Germany and France heading the crowd. At the end of 2023, prime prices in the city stood at €9,600 a square metre, an increase of 3.5% over the year.

Part of Florence’s appeal is how quickly it gives way to the countryside – a working landscape of vineyards and olive orchards, interspersed with the hill towns, Renaissance villas and country houses that have made this area world-famous. If you want to be close to Florence, choose Impruneta or Bagno a Ripoli, a favourite with expats thanks to its American school.

Sicily and The White Lotus effect
It’s not just the baroque splendour of Noto, Syracuse’s Roman remains or the vibrant street markets of Palermo that attract international visitors to Sicily. It’s show business, too – an echo of the “George Clooney effect”, when the actor and director bought a villa overlooking Lake Como. Recently the big draw has been the HBO show The White Lotus – with its dreamy depiction of Taormina in the second season. “It’s had a huge impact on the Sicilian real-estate market,” says Giusi Rossi, Savills Palermo residential team director. “It’s like the Montalbano effect around Ragusa, in the southeast, when they started filming Andrea Camilleri’s novels. People came and fell in love with the island.”

With some of the lowest prime property prices in Italy – and January temperatures that rarely drop below 10C – Palermo attracts northern Europeans flying south for the winter. “We have clients who want to spend months here and work remotely,” says Rossi. “Palermo has a wonderful centro storico, with important buildings – Roger II’s Cappella Palatina is a masterpiece in gold.” But this is a lively city, not a museum piece. Transaction volumes in Sicily were 15.3% higher in 2023 than in 2019.

“People are looking for something ancestral,” says Rossi. “They come to explore family history, fall in love and start searching for a villa with land for an organic project – making wine or producing oil. Sicily is rich: it tells you who we are and who we were.”

Find out more in the Italy – Prime Residential 2024 report

This article is a shortened version of the piece originally featured in volume 7 of Portfolio magazine. To request your copy, click here

Pictures from top: the Roman skyline (Alamy); Varenna, on the eastern shore of Lake Como (Getty); the elegant neighbourhood of Brera, in Milan (Getty); the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, in Florence (4Corners); and the gardens of Palermo’s cathedral, in Sicily (Getty)