Another Italian town is selling houses for one euro
The pandemic is raging, quarantine rules are changing by the day, and there’s still uncertainty over when we might vacation again, but one thing remains constant in the travel world: the €1 houses of Italy.
This month, it’s the turn of another Sicilian town, Castiglione di Sicilia, to offer houses for the price of a coffee.
On the slopes of Mount Etna, near chic Taormina and the beaches of Sicily’s east coast, the town is selling a bumper crop of houses: roughly 900 abandoned homes.
Most are located in the oldest parts of the town. Around half are ruined, and will be given away at a symbolic price of €1 ($1.20). The rest are in better condition, and will be sold off cheaply, starting from €4,000- €5,00.
Instead, they require owners to take out an insurance policy from a bank, worth €4,000. It would cost the new owner €100 per year, which seems a fairer sum then a deposit guarantee, says Camarda.
Local taxes are low in Sicily compared to the rest of Italy. Buyers can also take advantage of the Italian government s superbonus scheme, that dishes out tax credits of 110% for renovations which make houses more environmentally friendly.
Lava, lions and lots of wine
The town has an interesting past, now seen through its buildings.
Michele La Rosa/Comune Castiglione
Perched on a rocky cliff on the northern slope of Mount Etna, Castiglione di Sicilia overlooks the breathtaking Alcantara valley, whose deep chasms and canyons are dubbed gole (meaning gorges in Italian.)
Wednesday (February 24) marks the sixth paroxysm over Italy's Mount Etna in one week. Lava flows started from the NSEC crater and now we can see two fountains from the north side with the foreground showing Castiglione di Sicilia.