Foreigners, smart working and spas push up prices in the mountains

Once upon a time, it was just the 'skiing week' (which in any case, even if you wanted to rent a flat, required at least one thousand euros per 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 deseasonalisation of the offer (skiing, sports, spas and thermal baths) to a massive demand for second homes from a growing European middle class (especially from Northern and Eastern Europe) pressing on the Alpine arc (in the absence of domestic mountains). These are the main reasons why 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 one year and 5% since 2019, values in the sample locations have risen by 4.6%, twice as much, and 19.5%, four times as much, respectively. The picture is similar for rents, which have risen in the mountains by 5.1% since 2023 and by more than 17% in five years. More than a second home, people are looking for a second 'first home''.

To buy in Cortina today, you need - between a minimum and a maximum - from above 12 thousand to over 25 thousand euro per square metre for a two or three-room apartment. In Madonna di Campiglio, the price ranges from around 7,500 to almost 14,000 euro per square metre, in Courmayeur it goes from 6,600 to almost 14,000 euro per square metre for a two-room apartment and from 6,300 to 13,650 euro per square metre for a three-room apartment.

Still considering two- and three-room apartments, Selva di Val Gardena (from above 6 thousand to 13 thousand euros per square metre), Bormio (between 4 thousand and over 10 thousand euros per square metre) and Sestriere (between 6 thousand and 10 thousand euros per square metre) follow. For minimums per square metre below 4 thousand euro, one must look to Ponte di Legno (for Lombardy), to the mountain arc of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Sappada and Tarvisio) or look to the Apennines. From Roccaraso in Abruzzo (with prices per square metre between about 2 thousand and 4,700 euro) and the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines (on Monte Cimone, you can buy between 1,700/1,900 euro per square metre up to 3,6oo-3,8oo, while on Corno alle Scale, values range between 1,000 and 2,000).

On the rental front, in the most 'popular' resorts - the usual Cortina and Courmajeur - renting a two- or three-room apartment - by the week and in high season - has average rents, respectively, of around EUR 4,500-4,800. It remains around 3,000 in Badia, Breuil-Cervinia. Selva di Val Gardena and Sestriere. Between 2,800 and 3,200 in Livigno, between 2,100 and 2,500 euro per week in Canazei. Under 2,000 euro (often closer to 1,500) in Bardonecchia, Tarvisio, Moena and the Udine mountains. Under one thousand euro per week in the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines.