For less than the cost of a slice of New York City pizza or a value meal at McDonald’s, you could buy house in Italy just 20 minutes from the beach. Sambuca di Sicilia, a small town in Sicily, made headlines when it offered abandoned homes for one euro in 2019, then again in 2021 for two euros. As CNN reports, the city is now gearing up for its third round of cheap home sales, this time asking as little as three euros, or just over $3.
“We just want to make it clear that by numbering these batches, more sales will likely follow in coming years,” Giuseppe Cacioppo, the newly elected mayor, told CNN. “Foreigners are flocking to buy our homes, it’s been a hit so far.”
This round, which offers a dozen $3 homes, are located in the old Saracen district, the highest point in the town. Many have been abandoned since roughly 1969, when a earthquake struck the surrounding Belice Valley and locals fled. “Rome’s government back then approved a specific law for Sambuca’s revival that granted the town hall ownership of the abandoned homes, so we can dispose of these as we wish, and there are no middle agencies,” Cacioppo explained.
However, just because the government is willing to sell them for three euros doesn’t mean that that’s the exact price buyers will pay. The residences are being offered as auctions and will go to the highest bidder; in the last round, most sold for $5,000–$10,000. The city has uploaded images and plans of the 12 newly available homes to its website but has not yet announced when the auctions will begin.
Like many towns that have offered similar deals, Sambuca di Sicilia is using the inexpensive real estate to incentivize new residents in an attempt to revitalize the economy of the area. Since the local government owns most of the abandoned properties in the area, it can easily off-load them to buyers without having to act as a middleman between long-gone owners and eager new tenants. Largely, this has made the city more successful than others in attracting buyers. According to Cacioppo this has brought in around $21.8 million.
