In major cities, an increasing number of residents are buying homes in the surrounding areas

House prices are driving residents to buy homes outside the city centre with increasing frequency. This is a trend that had already emerged, but which the Italian Revenue Agency’s 2025 figures – according to the latest analysis by Tecnocasa – confirm. Provincial capitals recorded 236,723 residential property sales, an increase of +5.4% compared with 2024; for non-capital municipalities, the increase was slightly higher at +6.9 per cent, rising from 495,957 to 530,033.

In 2025, only 62 per cent of buyers living in large cities purchased their main residence in their city of residence; this is the lowest proportion ever recorded since 2019, when this figure was much higher, at just under 75 per cent. Consequently, the number of residents in large cities buying property in the surrounding areas, in other counties within their region of residence and in other regions continues to rise. Between 2024 and 2025, purchases in the surrounding areas rose from 24.6 per cent to 24.9 per cent, purchases in other provinces within the region of residence rose from 6.3 per cent to 8 per cent, and transactions in other regions from 4.8 per cent to 5.2 per cent. The gap is even more evident when comparing the 2025 figures with those from 2019; in this case, moves to the hinterland rose from 18.3 per cent to 24.9 per cent (+6.6 per cent), sales in other provinces within the region rise from 4 per cent to 8 per cent (+4 per cent) and moves to another region increase from 3.3 per cent to 5.2 per cent (+1.9 per cent).

Looking at individual major cities, it is clear that Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin have seen significant increases in the proportion of journeys made outside the city over the last seven years: in Rome, the figure has risen to 44.3 per cent, up from 19.6 per cent in 2019 (+24.7 per cent); in Milan, the figure has risen from 35 per cent in 2019 to 53 per cent in 2025 (+22 per cent); in Naples, it has reached 43.6 per cent, up from 24.6 per cent in 2019 (+19 per cent); in Turin, the figure has risen from 27.3 per cent in 2019 to 46.1 per cent in 2025 (+18.8 per cent). In Milan and Rome, high property prices are undoubtedly a factor, driving purchases out of the city. In Milan, in particular, prices have risen by 42 per cent over the last seven years. Milan remains Italia’s most expensive city with an average of €4,622 per square metre, followed by Rome at €3,305 per square metre. In Turin, the rise in the number of residents buying property outside the city is also driven by a desire for a better quality of life and better housing.

In Genoa, Verona and Bologna, too, the proportion of journeys made outside the city is on the rise compared with 2019, but the percentages are lower than those recorded in Rome, Milan, Naples and Turin. In Genoa, in 2025, out-of-city journeys accounted for 18.1 per cent of buyers, compared with 7.8 per cent in 2019 (+10.3 per cent); in Verona the figure rose from 27.9 per cent to 33.6 per cent (+5.8 per cent) and in Bologna from 57.8 per cent to 60.6 per cent (+2.8 per cent).

In Florence and Palermo, the proportion of home purchases made outside the city remained largely unchanged compared with 2019; in the Tuscan capital, it hovers around 40 per cent, whilst in Palermo it stands at around 9 per cent. In Bari, however, the proportion of purchases made outside the city has fallen over the last seven years – the only exception amongst the major cities considered. In 2019, 24.1 per cent of Bari residents bought their first home outside the city, whilst by 2025 this figure had fallen to 18.2 per cent (-5.9 per cent).