Buying a home in Italy from Germany or Austria

You have found a house above Lake Garda or a flat in Merano, the asking price fits, and now you want the number that actually decides it: what the purchase costs once Italian taxes and fees land on top. Very little of it works the way it does in Munich or Salzburg. Italy taxes most resale homes on a cadastral value rather than on the price you agree, and it expects the buyer to pay an estate agent as well as the seller.

Last reviewed: 2026-08-03. Seeki.eu is not a legal or tax adviser; this article is orientation, not advice. Rates change and depend on your circumstances. Confirm your position with an Italian public notary (notaio) or a tax adviser before you sign anything. Sources at the foot of this article.

Can a German or Austrian citizen buy property in Italy?

Yes, freely, and with no permit. Italy gates foreign buyers through a reciprocity test (condizione di reciprocità), which asks whether an Italian could buy in the applicant's country. Citizens of EU and EEA states are placed on the same footing as Italian citizens and are exempt from that check altogether, per the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAECI), which publishes the country-by-country reciprocity tables the notary consults. A German or Austrian passport clears the only ownership gate Italy has.

What every buyer does need is an Italian tax number (codice fiscale), issued by the tax authority. Non-residents can request it through the Italian consular office covering their place of residence, or through a delegate in Italy. Get it early, because nothing else in the transaction moves without it.

Of the European markets we cover, four gate any part of foreign ownership, and Italy's test is the mildest of them. Our reference piece on the non-resident buying rules across European markets sets out how the reciprocity test compares with the Polish and Hungarian permits and Austria's own provincial approvals.

What does buying in Italy cost on top of the price?

The purchase taxes are heavier than in Germany or Austria on paper, and often lighter in practice, because the base is different. For a resale home bought from a private seller, the registration tax is 9% of the property's cadastral value, not of the price, provided you are buying as a private individual and ask the notary at the deed to tax it on that register value rather than on the price (prezzo-valore). Two further taxes, a mortgage-registry tax (imposta ipotecaria) and a cadastral tax (imposta catastale), are fixed at €50 each.

Cost line	Second home, private seller	Main-home rate (prima casa)
Registration tax (imposta di registro)	9% of cadastral value (min. €1,000)	2% of cadastral value (min. €1,000)
Mortgage-registry tax (imposta ipotecaria)	€50	€50
Cadastral tax (imposta catastale)	€50	€50
New build from a developer (VAT, IVA, applies instead)	10% VAT, or 22% on luxury categories A/1, A/8, A/9	4% VAT
Registration, mortgage and cadastral tax on a VAT sale	€200 each	€200 each

Rates are from the Agenzia delle Entrate, which sets them out in its guidance on buying a home and its taxes (L'acquisto di una casa: le imposte). On top sit the notary and the agent, neither of which is capped by a statutory tariff.

The cadastral base is what German and Austrian buyers most often mis-model. A cadastral value is derived from an official register figure for the property (rendita catastale), and it is normally lower than what you pay for the home. On a €300,000 flat, 9% of the price would be €27,000, while 9% of a cadastral value of, say, €180,000 is €16,200. Ask for that register figure (rendita catastale) before you make an offer. Choosing to be taxed on the register value also caps the tax authority's ability to challenge the declared value and cuts the notary's fee by 30%.

Set that against home: Germany charges a property transfer tax (Grunderwerbsteuer) of 3.5% to 6.5% depending on the federal state (Bundesland), on the full purchase price. Austria charges the same transfer tax at 3.5% plus a 1.1% land-register fee, again on the price. Italy's headline 9% looks worse and frequently is not, once the base changes.

One line has no German equivalent. Under article 1755 of the Italian civil code, the estate agent (mediatore) is entitled to a commission from each party unless the contract says otherwise, and Italian market custom follows that: buyer and seller each pay their own share, commonly 2% to 4% of the price plus 22% VAT. Germany's 2020 commission-split reform caps a consumer buyer's share at half the total. Italy has no such cap, so add the agent to your budget as a real line rather than an afterthought. Our breakdown of what a purchase costs across European markets puts Italy at roughly 7% to 11% all in, which is mid-table for Western Europe and well above Central Europe.

Where do German and Austrian buyers actually buy in Italy?

Germans are the largest single group of foreign home buyers in Italy by a wide margin. Scenari Immobiliari counted about 8,700 foreign buyers spending €5.5 billion in 2025, with Germans at 70% of them, ahead of North Americans at 10% and British buyers at 8% (reported March 2026). The map has shifted, too: Sicily's share of foreign demand doubled from 9% in 2015 to 18% in 2025 and Puglia reached 17%, while Tuscany fell from 22% to 13%.

The Alpine and lakeside corridor remains the natural first look for a DACH buyer, for the obvious reason that it is a five-hour drive and half of it speaks German. In the premium segment, Engel & Völkers' Italy market report for 2026, produced with the Nomisma research institute, puts international buyers at around 35% of purchases, and at 60% around Lake Como, where three in five deals complete without a bank loan at all. The Ligurian Riviera around Portofino shows the same pull with a shrinking supply of premium stock.

One warning specific to South Tyrol, because it catches German-speaking buyers who assume it is the easy option. Provincial law 9/2018 (Raum und Landschaft) restricts new second homes: in municipalities where second homes already exceed 10% of stock, new or converted dwellings must be restricted to local use (convenzionate), meaning they can only be owned and used by someone resident in the province for at least five years or working there. That is not a foreigner rule, it applies to Italians from Milan as well, but it takes a large share of new South Tyrolean housing off the holiday-home market. Check the status of any specific property before you fall for it.

This is the point where a single-country portal stops helping. If your shortlist runs from Lake Garda to Liguria and you also want to know what the same money buys in Carinthia, you need the homes sitting on one map. On Seeki.eu you can pan across the border and see homes on both sides arrive together, read every Italian listing's title and description in German, and save the search so new matches land in a daily digest instead of being re-run by hand.

Can a non-resident get an Italian mortgage?

Yes, from a short list of banks, and at a loan-to-value well below what a resident is offered. Italian lenders active with non-residents typically finance 50% to 60% of value, so plan on 40% or more of your own money plus the transaction costs. Approvals are slower than in Germany, six to twelve weeks is realistic, and the bank lends against its own appraisal rather than the agreed price, which can quietly cut the loan further.

An EU passport smooths the paperwork and the source-of-funds questions. It does not move the loan-to-value. Our comparison of non-resident mortgage terms across European markets covers which Italian banks run non-resident programmes and what documents they ask for.

Domestic buyers borrow far more freely than the cross-border segment does. In the first quarter of 2026, 47.8% of Italian residential purchases were financed by a mortgage, with more than €11 billion of capital lent, according to the Agenzia delle Entrate's property market observatory.

Main-home relief (prima casa) or second home: which one applies to you?

Almost three-quarters of Italian purchases use the main-home relief. In the first quarter of 2026 the share approached 73% (Agenzia delle Entrate, OMI, June 2026). Most cross-border holiday buyers are in the other quarter, and the difference is 7 percentage points of registration tax.

To claim the 2% rate you must have your residence in the municipality where the property sits, or move it there within 18 months of the purchase, and the home must fall in cadastral categories A/2 to A/7 or A/11. Luxury categories A/1, A/8 and A/9 are excluded outright. You also cannot hold another home in the same municipality bought with the relief, unless you sell it within two years.

For a Frankfurt family buying a summer flat in Lazise, none of that is realistic, and the 9% rate is the honest planning assumption. For an Austrian who genuinely relocates to Merano or Bolzano, the relief is worth having and worth timing.

The annual bill follows the same split. A non-luxury main residence is exempt from the municipal property tax (IMU). A second home is not: the statutory base rate is 0.76%, municipalities may set anything up to 1.06%, and Milan, Rome and Turin apply the maximum. That tax is charged on the cadastral value, not the market price, so the same base that helps you at purchase helps you every year afterwards.

How does the Italian buying process run?

Three signatures, in order, and the middle one is the binding step.

1. The written offer (proposta d'acquisto). Usually with a small deposit of around 5%. Once the seller accepts it, you are committed.
2. The preliminary contract (contratto preliminare, also called the compromesso). The real contract. A confirmatory deposit of 10% to 20% (caparra confirmatoria) changes hands, and the completion date is fixed. It must be registered within 30 days of signing, which costs a fixed €200 registration tax plus €16 stamp duty per four pages, and a further 0.5% on the deposit that is credited back against the registration tax at completion.
3. The final deed of sale (rogito). The notarial deed, signed one to three months later. The notary, a public officer serving both sides rather than your lawyer, checks title, settles the taxes and files the transfer with the land registry.

Two things belong before step one rather than after it. Get the Italian tax number, and get someone to check for unauthorised building work (abusi edilizi), which is common in older Italian stock and which the notary will not survey for you. The country-level mechanics, including due diligence and the pensioner flat-tax regime in the south, are in our Buying Property in Italy as a Foreigner (2026 Guide), and the price and volume picture is in our read on the Italian market in 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Can I buy a house in Italy as a German citizen?

Yes, on the same terms as an Italian. Italy applies a reciprocity test to foreign buyers, but EU and EEA citizens are exempt from it, so no permit or approval is involved for a German or Austrian passport holder. You will need an Italian tax number (codice fiscale) from the tax authority before you can sign anything. It can be requested through an Italian consulate in your country of residence.

How much tax do you pay when buying a holiday home in Italy?

On a resale home from a private seller, 9% registration tax plus two fixed taxes of €50 each. The 9% is charged on the cadastral value rather than the purchase price if you buy as a private individual and ask to be taxed on that register value (prezzo-valore), and it is normally lower than the price. A new build from a developer carries 10% VAT (IVA) instead, or 4% under the main-home relief (prima casa).

Does a German buyer qualify for the prima casa rate in Italy?

Only by taking residence. The 2% main-home rate (prima casa) requires you to have, or to establish within 18 months, your residence in the municipality where the property sits, and the home must not be in the luxury cadastral categories. A holiday buyer keeping a main home in Germany or Austria will not qualify, so budget the 9% second-home rate.

Who pays the estate agent in Italy?

Both sides, in most deals. Article 1755 of the Italian civil code entitles the agent (mediatore) to a commission from each party unless the contract provides otherwise, and market custom follows it: buyer and seller each pay roughly 2% to 4% of the price plus 22% VAT. There is no German-style cap on the buyer's share, so a cross-border budget built on German or Austrian habits will come up short.

Can a non-resident get a mortgage in Italy?

Yes, from a narrow set of banks with non-resident programmes, typically at 50% to 60% of value. That means 40% or more of your own funds plus the transaction costs. Approvals commonly take six to twelve weeks, longer than in Germany, and the bank lends against its own appraisal rather than the agreed price. An Italian tax number (codice fiscale) and translated income evidence are required before you apply.

Where do German-speaking buyers usually look in Italy?

The lakes and the Alpine belt first, then Tuscany and Liguria, though the southern regions have gained fast. Scenari Immobiliari reported that Sicily's share of foreign buying doubled to 18% between 2015 and 2025 while Tuscany's fell from 22% to 13%. South Tyrol deserves a check before you commit: provincial law restricts new second homes in municipalities where they already exceed 10% of stock.

Sources

Purchase tax rates, the register-value basis (prezzo-valore), the fixed mortgage-registry and cadastral taxes (imposta ipotecaria and imposta catastale), and the main-home relief conditions (prima casa) come from the Italian tax authority (Agenzia delle Entrate, guidance L'acquisto di una casa: le imposte and L'acquisto con i benefici prima casa). The mortgage share of 47.8%, the €11 billion of financed capital and the 73% prima casa share are from the Agenzia delle Entrate's OMI quarterly statistics for the first quarter of 2026, published 10 June 2026. Reciprocity treatment for EU and EEA citizens is per the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAECI) reciprocity pages. Agent commission rests on article 1755 of the Italian civil code and prevailing market custom. Registration of the contratto preliminare within 30 days, the €200 fixed tax, the €16 stamp duty and the 0.5% on the caparra confirmatoria follow the Agenzia delle Entrate's guidance on preliminary contracts. Foreign-buyer volumes and nationality shares are from Scenari Immobiliari, reported 7 March 2026; premium-segment shares from the Engel & Völkers Italy market report 2026, produced with Nomisma. South Tyrol's second-home rules are provincial law 9/2018 (Raum und Landschaft). German Grunderwerbsteuer rates of 3.5% to 6.5% are set per Bundesland; Austria's 3.5% Grunderwerbsteuer and 1.1% land-register fee are national. Confirm your own position with an Italian notary (notaio), lawyer or tax adviser before you commit.