Foreigners and smart working push the market to the mountain
Once upon a time it was just the “white week” (which, even if you want to rent an apartment, requires at least a thousand euros a week, with a few exceptions only in the Apennines). Today, it is a mix of factors - from smart working (which lengthens and multiplies weekends), to the deseasonalization of the offer (skiing, sports, spas and thermal baths) up to a massive demand for second homes from a growing European middle class (especially from Northern and Eastern Europe) that presses on the Alpine arc (in the absence of domestic mountains). These are the main reasons why the prices of second homes in the mountains have grown by almost 40% in ten years.
«If in Italy - said Mario Breglia, president and founder of Scenari Immobiliari - on average, house prices have grown by 2% in a year and by 5% since 2019, the values, in the locations of the sample, have risen, respectively, by 4.6%, double, and by 19.5%, four times as much. The picture is similar for rents, which have grown in the mountains by 5.1% since 2023 and by over 17% in five years. More than a second home, people are looking for a second “first home”.
Sales and rentals
To buy in Cortina, today, you need – between minimums and maximums – from above 12 thousand to over 25 thousand euros per square meter for a two-room or three-room apartment. In Madonna di Campiglio, it is between around 7,500 and almost 14 thousand euros per square meter, in Courmayeur it goes from 6,600 to almost 14 thousand euros per square meter for a two-room apartment and from 6,300 to 13,650 per square meter for a three-room apartment.
Always considering two-room and three-room apartments, Selva di Val Gardena follows (from above 6 thousand to 13 thousand euros per square meter), Bormio (between 4 thousand and over 10 thousand euros per square meter) and Sestriere (between 6 thousand and 10 thousand euros per square meter). For minimum prices per square meter under 4 thousand euros, you have to look at Ponte di Legno (for Lombardy), the mountain range of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Sappada and Tarvisio) or look at the Apennines. From Roccaraso in Abruzzo (with prices per square meter between 2 thousand and 4,700 euros approximately) and the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines (on Monte Cimone you can buy between 1,700/1,900 euros per square meter up to 3,600-3,800, while in Corno alle Scale values between one thousand and 2 thousand).
On the rental front, in the most “popular” locations – the usual Cortina and Courmayeur – renting a two-room or three-room apartment – per week and in high season – has average rents, respectively, around 4,500-4,800 euros. It stays around 3 thousand in Badia, Breuil-Cervinia. Selva di Val Gardena and Sestriere. Between 2,800 and 3,200 in Livigno, between 2,100 and 2,500 euros per week in Canazei. Under 2 thousand euros (often closer to 1,500) in Bardonecchia, Tarvisio, Moena and in the mountains of Udine. Under a thousand euros per week in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.
