The (valuable) sea beats the (valuable) mountains in the battle of prices, and Forte dei Marmi takes first place: it is here that the most valuable properties in Italy are to be found, with purchase costs higher than those of the former record-holder Cortina d’Ampezzo.

This was stated in a study by Immobiliare.it Insights, an Immobiliare.it Group company specialising in big data and market intelligence for the real estate sector. The comparison looked at the country’s ten most famous tourist locations: five seaside resorts — Capri, Forte dei Marmi, Portofino, Porto Ercole and Porto Rotondo — and five mountain resorts — Cortina d’Ampezzo, Madonna di Campiglio, Courmayeur, Ortisei and Cervinia.

Forte above 2 million

There are only three locations where the average cost of homes for sale exceeds one million euro: Forte dei Marmi, with more than 2 million, Capri, at 1.4 million, and Cortina, the most expensive of the mountain resorts (1.3 million).

Average prices between €800,000 and €1 million for Portofino, Madonna di Campiglio, Courmayeur and Ortisei, which exceed Porto Ercole (€766,800) and Porto Rotondo (€540,600). Bringing up the rear is Cervinia, with an average price of just over €300,000.

The pluses of the sea

«In Italy it is certainly more common for tourist destinations on the coast to boast particularly valuable solutions, for which demand very often reaches i

mportant figures also thanks to particular pluses such as gardens and swimming pools, which are much less common in mountain resorts,» comments Antonio Intini, Chief Business Development Officer of Immobiliare.it.

In villa or condominium

Forte dei Marmi also excels in another aspect, which is fundamental in determining average market values: the quantity of detached villas, which here reaches as much as 84%, compared with 50% in Capri and an average of 20% in the other seaside resorts.

In the mountains, on the other hand, the stock on offer is mainly composed of flats, and the percentage of villas exceeds 10% only in Ortisei and Courmayeur.

«Important» sizes

Lastly, the Immobiliare.it Insights analysis highlights another market record for Forte dei Marmi, which among the locations surveyed is the one that offers the highest number of homes with five or more rooms, accounting for half of the stock on offer, compared with around 20% in Cortina.

A quality offer

The high level of prices achieved by the Forte dei Marmi property market is therefore not surprising. In terms of size, quality and services, the Tuscan town’s housing offer is unrivalled, and the prices reflect this, thus resting on more than solid foundations.