A cup of coffee or a vacation home in Italy? The starting price for a house in an Italian village is about 35 NOK.
Having seen high demand in previous home sales in 2019 and 2021, many homes in Sambuca di Sicilia are now on the market – priced from three euros, equivalent to approximately 35 Norwegian kroner.
– Foreigners are flocking to buy our homes, and it has already spread, says the city's mayor, Giuseppe Cacioppo CNN.
On Monday evening, the thermometer showed 25 degrees in Sambuca di Sicilia, which has a population of about 5,800.
– Interested tourists and buyers who are currently traveling to Italy, and who are planning a trip in the spring and summer, can come and have a look, says the city mayor.
He says the homes are “as structurally stable as previous homes sold,” but need a new design. We are talking about twelve houses, between 50 and 80 square metres, distributed over one or three floors. Many have balconies and original green-painted doors.
Sambuca di Sicilia got a lot of attention when CNN announced they would be selling 16 homes for 1 euro in 2019. Two years later, they were selling homes for 2 euros.
Sales have attracted buyers from all over the world. The city mayor says the move contributed to the local community receiving 20 million euros, roughly 230 million Norwegian kroner.
It includes sales volume from new stores opened, contracts with architects and builders and new accommodation.
This is how it works
The village of Patrizia, south of Rome, tried to launch similar schemes but struggled to track down the previous owners to be able to sell the empty homes.
In Sambuca di Sicilia, the local authorities own the houses, which is cited as a main reason why the move has been successful.
Homes are sold to the highest bidder. The winning bid will be placed in a sealed envelope and opened in front of the judge after the application deadline.
In previous sales, homes ended up selling for between 1 and 25 thousand euros, while most went for between 5,000 and 10 thousand euros, CNN wrote.
Auction participants must pay a security deposit of 5,000 euros, or about 57,000 Norwegian kroner. If you lose the bid, you will get your money back.
The buyer must complete renovations on the home within three years or risk losing their security deposit.
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