🇮🇹Italy · Property
Italy — Property
What it actually costs to buy a flat or house in Italy: registration tax, IMU, notary, agency, mortgage for non-residents, €1 houses. Q2 2026 numbers.
Italy is among the cheapest Western countries to buy a home in. It is also among the most expensive to close the deal in. This chapter prices what the listing leaves out, registration, notary, agency, mortgage, and shows where cadastral value works for you and where it does not.
The main split: prima casa vs seconda casa
The Italian tax system sorts every buyer into two boxes: prima casa (primary residence) and seconda casa (second home). That distinction runs through every tax and shapes the true cost of ownership.
Primary residence
Registration tax 2 % of cadastral value. IMU is zero. CGT on sale is zero. The catch: you must register your residency (residenza anagrafica) at the property within 18 mo of purchase. Fail to do so and the relief is clawed back with interest, the declaration was treated as a false one.
Second home
Registration tax 9 %. Annual IMU at 50 %–1.1 % of cadastral. CGT on sale: 26 % if sold within 5 yr, zero after. For most non-Italian buyers who already own a home elsewhere, the Italian property will fall into seconda casa automatically.
New-builds from a developer follow a different track: VAT 10 % instead of registration tax (22 % for luxury cadastral categories A1, A8, A9). VAT is charged on market price, not cadastral.
What it actually costs to close
The price on Idealista is the floor. Real cash on signing day stacks four lines: state taxes, notary, agency, bank (if a mortgage is involved).
State
- Registration tax: 2 % or 9 % of cadastral value. The base is cadastral, not market, which matters more than buyers expect.
- Mortgage tax (imposta ipotecaria): €200 for a private sale, 2 % when buying from a corporate seller.
- Cadastral tax (imposta catastale): €200 for private, 1 % for corporate.
- For new-builds, VAT 10 % replaces registration tax.
Notaio
An Italian notary is a public official; no deal is registered without one. Fee is typically 2 % of the deal value for properties €200-500k, slightly lower at the top, higher at the bottom. The fee covers the rogito (deed), filing with the registry, and a ten-year title search. Notaries can be compared on price by law, and should be, because the spread is routinely 30-40 %.
Agency
Italy runs the unusual model of agency commission on both sides. Buyer and seller each pay 3 % plus VAT. On low-priced properties it often becomes a flat €3-5k regardless of price. Direct deals (no agency) appear on Idealista but are rarer than in Russia or Germany.
Worked example for a €300,000 flat as seconda casa: registration 9 % × €150k (cadastral ≈ half the market) = €13,500; mortgage + cadastral €400; notaio €6,000; agency €9,000 + VAT. Total: about €31,000 on top of €300,000, or 10 % of the price. For prima casa the same math lands around 5 %.
Cadastral value: the trick worth knowing
Cadastral value ( × multiplier) is a register figure separate from market price. The tax authority uses it for registration tax and IMU. In most municipalities it sits at 30-60 % of market price, even less in historical centres. That means registration tax and IMU are calculated on the old register-formula number, not on what the buyer actually paid.
The practical consequence: annual IMU on a €300k flat in Milan often lands €600-1,500, not €1,500-3,200 as a market-rate base would imply. This is the second reason Italian property is cheaper to hold long-term than German or French. The tax anchor is stuck in the 1990s.
The downside: in transactions between close relatives or gifts, cadastral occasionally cuts the wrong way. When a property is sold below cadastral value, the tax base is still cadastral, so the registration tax can exceed the deal would otherwise imply.
IMU, TARI, condominium: the annual bill
A yearly owner bill in Italy stacks three lines: IMU (state/municipal tax), TARI (refuse collection) and spese condominiali (shared building costs in a multi-unit building).
- IMU. Primary residence: zero. Second home: 50 %–1.1 % of cadastral. The rate is set by the municipality and published annually. Milan trends toward the upper bound, small southern communes toward the lower.
- TARI. Municipal refuse fee. €100-400 per year for an 80 m² flat depending on city. Paid by everyone, including prima casa.
- Spese condominiali. In an apartment block: lift, stairs, intercom, cleaning, sometimes shared heating. €50-200 per month, i.e. €600-2,400 per year.
- Insurance. Only required when a mortgage is involved; €150-400/year for fire and water cover. Without a mortgage, insurance is optional.
In total: a primary residence costs €500-1,500/year on top of the mortgage. A second home runs €1,500-4,000/year. High-end Milan buildings with a concierge add another €3,000-5,000 in condominium fees alone.
Mortgages for residents and non-residents
Italian banks lend to residents and non-residents, but the terms differ. Resident LTV runs up to 80 %. Non-resident LTV runs to 60 %, occasionally 50 %. Term up to 30 years for residents, 20 for non-residents.
Q2 2026 rates
Fixed rate (Tasso Fisso) sits at about 4 %. Variable (Tasso Variabile, linked to Euribor) is €STR + 1.2-2 %, landing 3.5-4.5 %. Mixed (Misto) starts fixed for a few years then floats. The 2024-2025 rate wave pushed most Italian borrowers back to fixed.
What the bank asks for
- Codice fiscale plus (or passport plus a national-ID document for non-residents).
- Income proof for the last 2-3 years: tax returns, employment contract, business accounts.
- Debt-service ratio under 30 % of income.
- Initial deposit (caparra confirmatoria) of 10 % held in escrow with the notary.
- Bank valuation by an in-house surveyor, €300-700, paid by the buyer.
Main banks for foreign borrowers: Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Crédit Agricole Italia, BNL (BNP Paribas). Mediolanum and BPER are weaker for non-residents. A lawyer + mortgage broker together run €2,000-4,000 and often pay for themselves in the rate they negotiate.
Selling: five years and a clean exit
Italian CGT on housing is unusually simple: hold for more than five years, owe nothing. Sell earlier and pay 26 % on the gain (sale price minus documented purchase price plus capital improvements). A primary residence is exempt always, even sold the next day.
This is a rare European model: no progressive scale, no long holding-period taper, no reinvestment requirement. It makes Italian property a sensible long-hold investment for anyone willing to ride five-plus years. After that the exit is clean.
€1 houses, renovation bonuses, pensioner regime
€1 houses
A southern-and-Sardinian municipal programme: town councils sell abandoned old houses for €1 with a buyer obligation to renovate within 3 yr. Minimum renovation budget under most schemes is around € 80,000. A €5-10k deposit is held by the municipality and refunded on works completion. The honest story: real all-in is typically €100-180k because the houses have no gas, old plumbing, half-collapsed roofs. This is work for people who genuinely want to live in a small southern commune; not for portfolio investors.
Superbonus and successors
The famous Superbonus 110 % (the state refunded 110 % of energy-efficiency renovation through tax credits) was sharply curtailed in 2024. For 2026, the active schemes are Bonus Ristrutturazioni at 50 % of works (cap €96,000 over 10 years, split evenly) and Bonus Casa Verde for green renovations. These are credits over a decade, not cash refunds.
7 % pensioner regime
Foreign pensioners buying their primary residence in a southern commune with population below 20,000 qualify for a flat 7 % rate on all foreign income for 10 years. That regime lives in the Taxes chapter, but in practice it ties to the property purchase: the commune must be on the qualifying list, and residency must be in that commune.
Renting out: cedolare secca vs ordinary
When the property is let, the landlord chooses between two tax regimes for rental income.
- Cedolare secca: flat 21 % on net rent (10 % for "agreement-rate" contracts in major cities). Replaces IRPEF and social contributions on rental income. Almost no deductions allowed. Best for steady long-term tenancy income.
- Ordinary IRPEF: rent enters personal income, taxed at 23 / 35 / 43 %. A 5 % flat lump-sum deduction applies, plus specific renovation costs and mortgage interest. Best when total income is low or significant deductions exist.
Short-term lets (under 30 days, no commune registration) follow a separate track. A 2024 law introduced the CIN (Codice Identificativo Nazionale): every Airbnb listing must display it or the platform blocks the listing. Tax: the same two options, but Airbnb withholds 21 % on payout as an advance against the eventual tax due (it is a prepayment, not an extra charge).
Frequently asked
What does closing a deal in Italy actually cost?
For prima casa: registration 2 % of cadastral + notaio 2 % + agency 3 %. For seconda casa registration rises to 9 %. Summary: 5-7 % over price for primary, 10-15 % for second. On a €300k flat that is €15-45k of closing costs.
Can a non-resident buy property in Italy?
Yes. EU nationals buy unrestricted. Non-EU nationals (including from RU) buy on reciprocity: Italy permits because the home country permits Italians to buy there. Codice fiscale is obtained via consulate or via an Italian notary. Banks apply extended KYC for non-residents.
What is cadastral value and why does it matter?
Cadastral value (rendita catastale × multiplier) is a register figure separate from market price. It serves as the base for registration tax and annual IMU. In most municipalities it sits at 30-60 % of market price. Result: ongoing taxes are calculated on a much smaller number than the deal price, making Italian property cheaper to hold long-term than German or French.
Are €1 houses worth buying?
The programme exists in southern and Sardinian municipalities. Buyer commits at least € 80,000 of renovation within 3 yr. A €5-10k deposit is held by the municipality. Real all-in usually €100-180k because most houses lack utilities. Fits people committed to living in the commune. Weak as an investment vehicle.
What mortgage is available to a foreigner?
Resident (with permesso) LTV up to 80 %, term up to 30 years, fixed rate Q2 2026 around 4 %. Non-resident LTV up to 60 %, term up to 20 years, rate typically 0.3-0.5 % higher. Main banks: Intesa, UniCredit, Crédit Agricole, BNL.
What is the tax on sale?
Primary residence is exempt always, even sold the next day. Second home: 26 % of the gain between sale price and documented purchase price, payable only if sold within 5 yr of ownership. Zero after that. One of the most lenient CGT models in the EU.
Verified · 2026-05-25