A rural town in southern Italy is hoping some cheap real estate will entice a few summer tourists to cancel their return flights.
Driving the news: The village of Sambuca di Sicilia is auctioning off 12 houses with prices starting at just €3. It’s the third time the village has put homes on the market for unbelievably low prices in an effort to convince more people to live in the remote area.
- In what would make a great premise for an HGTV show, buyers are also required to renovate the homes within three years, costing anywhere from €30,000 to €200,000.
Catch-up: Sambuca first listed homes for sale for €1 in 2019 and then again for €2 in 2021 in an effort to replace some of the residents who had left for bigger cities. The fire sales were a hit with foreign buyers, with most of the 250 homes sold between €5,000 and €10,000.
- The two previous sales gave the local economy a €20 million boost, resurrecting the real estate sector and attracting new businesses to the once-empty village.
Why it matters: It’s not just Sicilian villas being listed for the price of a gelato. Rural areas in Japan, the U.S. city of Baltimore, and even the town of Cochrane, Ontario have all made properties available for dirt-cheap or given them away to attract newcomers.—LA