Oodles of Property Bargains in This Corner of Italy

The lively town of Loreto Aprutino, where house prices start at just $120,000.

Thursday, Feb. 28, 2008
Abruzzo, Italy

Read more about Italy in International Living Postcards—your daily escape

Abruzzo’s landscape isn’t as manicured as Tuscany’s…but it is studded with medieval hill towns, olive groves, and vineyards. No heavyweight art cities to be sure, but what does la dolce vita mean? If it’s relishing good food, a slow-paced lifestyle, and beautiful pastoral landscapes, they’re all here. And for a regular art fix, Rome is only about two hours away.

I could go on and on about habitable properties in Abruzzo for less than $130,000 and restoration projects for $30,000. House Around Italy is probably Abruzzo’s largest agency—it has a meet-and-greet office at Pescara airport. Plus, nearly 2,000 property bargains to tempt you with. Based all over the region, House Around Italy is very professional. Its agents and scouts include both Italians and transplants from across the globe: the U.K., Germany, Russia, even the U.S.

Villages and small towns with full facilities (schools, shops, bars, banks, etc.) are more costly than hamlets. Realistically, don’t expect to find many habitable properties for less than $70,000, at least not within 30 minutes of the coast. Or near large towns such as Pescara, Sulmona, or L’Aquila. Village houses also tend to be cramped—some often have only 60 square meters of living space.

Glenys and her Italian husband Franco moved from England a year ago. They took me around the pretty spa town of Caramanico Terme (you can buy restored houses for around $110,000). There’s lots of facilities, a public bus service into Pescara, and skiing at Passo San Leonardo is about 20 minutes away. In nearby San Valentino, a 70-square-meter apartment beside the church is €79,000 ($119,000).

Not far from Pescara and the coast, Loreto Aprutino is another lovely (and lively) town with a historic center and restored houses for €80,000 ($120,000). That’s the on-the-books price—I’d say an offer of $20,000 less would be accepted in many cases.

Here I lunched with Emily, House Around Italy’s American scout. (She also married an Italian—undoubtedly the best way to get a work permit!) Mine was ravioli stuffed with ricotta cheese followed by veal escalope with salad and, naturally, a jug of red wine. Not bad for an equivalent $13.

Twenty minutes from the coast, Alanno is yet another hill town to fall in love with. The views toward the glittering white diamond of Maiella Mountain are among Abruzzo’s most swooningly lovely. Agency director Nikki di Girolamo showed me her pet project: a 20-acre site of olive groves, vineyard, and lake where planning permission is in the final stages for an upmarket development of apartments and villas.

Within walking distance of Alanno, the development will include an infinity pool, a restaurant/bar, small supermarket, beauty salon, and free bicycles for guests. It’s a buy-to-let project with owners having guaranteed rental and four weeks’ stay each year. Brochures won’t go out until planning permission is fully approved. But…I know what you’re wondering: 60-square-meter apartments are expected to cost in the region of €60,000 to €70,000 ($90,000 to $105,000 at today’s exchange rate) at off-plan stage.

If interested, you can register now. If Nikki is right, there’s nothing else like it in Abruzzo. And imagine having your own wine and olive oil pressed from your own “estate.”

In a national park near another hill town, I saw something you could move into right now…a real temptation…and only $50,000. I’ll tell you about it in my next Postcard.

Steenie Harvey
Roving Europe Editor, International Living

Read related articles:

- Would You Like a Townhouse in “Affordable Italy” for $26,000?

- A Fixer-upper for Less Than $60,000 in Italy? Look in the Wild Heights of Abruzzo

- Italy: The Owner's Manual