This Italian Town Is Selling Abandoned Properties For Just A Euro

If you are looking for a dream property in a quaint Italian town, then you are in luck. We admit, buying a house is no small feat. It requires a hefty amount that often goes beyond the listed cost. Skyrocketing real estate rates, coupled with additional expenses, make the entire process all the more difficult. But, in Penne — a town located in Italy's central region of Abruzzo, you can purchase a property at a peanut price equal to a cup of coffee.  

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Penne's rapid depopulation is the reason why the town is selling abandoned homes for a price as low as 1 euro or little over a dollar. 

Property owners at Penne will be releasing a fresh tranche of real estate soon, reported CNN. Buyers need not deposit any additional money as a down payment to secure ownership of the dilapidated buildings. All they have to do is renovate the house to make it suitable for living. Those willing to buy one-euro properties need to pay an amount between  2,000 to 5,000 euros. The money will be returned to the buyer once the restyling works are complete. 

Abruzzo, Italy is famous for its beautiful villages.
Photo Credit: iStock

Citing depopulation concerns, Penne's mayor Gilberto Petrucci admitted that he feels the town is at risk of becoming a “ghost town”. In a conversation with CNN, he said, “There are potentially over 40 empty buildings in town looking for new owners, and they're all located in the historical center which has been declining since families started emigrating decades ago.”

Gilberto Petrucci added, “Although our total population is roughly 1,200 inhabitants, there are only 1,000 people left living in our gorgeous old district, which risks becoming a ghost town.” 

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According to the mayor, Penne resembles “an open-air museum” boasting medieval, gothic and renaissance architecture. He launched the home-selling programme in 2022. Since then, 6 properties have been sold, out of which the first three costed one euro. 

The mayor revealed that most of these houses once belonged to local farming communities who left their hometown for a better future, due to World War II and emigration reasons.