Buying Real Estate in Catania and Eastern Sicily

Real Estate in Catania and Eastern Sicily

Once the cradle of the ancient Greek civilisation in Sicily, the east coast is a region steeped in varied cultures. In the shadow of the towering Mount Etna, the largest active volcano in Europe, it is an elemental land where fire and water have met earth and air for millennia, throwing up some of the island’s most recognisable landmarks and captivating traditions.

Catania and the surrounding territories is one of our fastest growing markets, and in this piece we’ll answer some of the most common questions and give some tips on how to find the perfect property for you in this rich and varied region.

Where Should I Look for Real Estate in Catania and Eastern Sicily?

Why Buy Real Estate in Catania or Eastern Sicily?

With all of the infrastructure you’d expect to find in and around Sicily’s second city, the heart of east coast Sicily is a highly liveable place to buy real estate as an international purchaser. Whether you’re planning to take advantage of the island’s welcoming tax climate and make it your new home, or you’re interested in a vacation property that keeps you close to the beach while offering an amazing array of day trips, this has you covered.

The transport links are very appealing, whether you’re coming and going through Italy’s fourth-busiest airport, Catania Fontanarossa or taking advantage of the scenic coastal highway and railway lines (including a newly revamped stretch heading north from Catania to Messina).

If you have an eye on investment, several of the island’s most visited tourist attractions feature on this list, and the city of Catania itself retains huge value for longer-term accommodation as visitors base themselves there in order to explore the whole of the East coast.

Our Property Scouting and Collaborative Services

We’re always working to bring you the best possible range of properties for sale in Sicily through our carefully chosen listings. However, if you don’t find what you want on our site, we can still help.

We regularly conduct property searches on behalf of clients who send us specifications, and our breadth of local contacts allow us to bring them the best deals as soon as they come on the market.

Alternatively, if do you find a place that looks right for you but can’t get to see it in person or would like the security of knowing the transaction will be managed by an international agency, we can conduct site visits on your behalf. We even liaise with colleagues from other agencies and have often been able to strike a deal to oversee the transaction personally. Our great links with agencies on the east coast and throughout Sicily are at your service – but remember that in this scenario you would need to contact us before the other company, authorising us to make the first approach on your behalf.

Where Should I Look for Real Estate in Catania and Eastern Sicily?

Let us take guide you around the east coast of the island and point out some of the most interesting areas to look for real estate in Catania and its surroundings. Whether they offer luxury, cultural gems or just great value for money, these are the five areas we would suggest you focus your search. We’ll start with the obvious one…

1. Catania

From its Greek origins nearly three thousand years ago to its present day status as the island’s second city, Catania has always been the first glimpse of Sicily for many international visitors. For centuries a bustling merchant port, and now the site of the island’s busiest airport, it has been welcoming arrivals with a unique combination of fire and water. On the east side is the Ionian sea, while to the north the dramatic silhouette of Mount Etna dominates the skyline. Many new arrivals are a little shocked to see plumes of smoke billowing from the top of what is still a demonstrably active volcano, but the city sits a reassuringly safe distance from any eruption zone. You can, however, hike, trek or even ski on its imposing slopes barely an hour away from the city centre.

Home to about 300,000 people, it is a classic southern Italian metropolis, similar in many ways to its north Sicilian cousin Palermo, and to Naples or Bari on the mainland. If you’re familiar with any of those you’ll recognise the same blend of Baroque boulevards and winding backstreets, and the layers of tangible and unmissable history. This includes the remains of the Greco-Roman theatre and the Roman amphitheatre which stand right in the heart of the modern city. You also can’t miss the thirteenth century Castle Ursino, which dominates the historic neighbourhood of Via Plebiscito. Here, in the evenings, an endless parade of restaurants open their front doors and terraces and grill delicious meats on huge barbecues out on the streetfront.

The city explodes into life every February for the feast of Sant’Agata, the patron saint of the city and the figure to whom its ornate Baroque cathedral is dedicated. Faithful devotees carry huge floats through the main streets and residential neighbourhoods alike, and vast candles are held aloft by entire teams. So much wax is generated by this display that the asphalt and cobbles of the main roads have to be covered in sawdust to facilitate the clean-up operation. An unforgettable firework display closes proceedings late into the night of February 5^th.

Food lovers will find a delicious treat for every occasion. The city’s famous arancinerias sell a huge variety of flavours of the iconic deep-fried rice snack. The iconic Pasta alla Norma is found on every menu. The street market of La Pescheria is a winding, souk-like hub of freshly caught fish and social communion. If you want to dine in style Catania has some beautiful haute cuisine, including four separate Michelin-starred restaurants. Our favourite is Ménage, just behind the beautiful opera house, the Teatro Bellini. In the Liberty-style settings you can enjoy a contemporary twist on classic local dishes without breaking the bank to do so.

If you are looking for a desirable location for a city apartment in this bustling city and your budget is mid-range or higher, we would suggest starting around the seafront which runs north from the Europa railway station up to the rocky stretch of coast in the far north-eastern corner of Catania, known as La Scogliera. Sea views, the dark volcanic sands of the little city beach San Giovanni Licuti and the chance to moor a boat at Porto Ulisee all add to the value of real estate in this relatively quiet neighbourhood, where much of the seafront has recently been pedestrianised to great success.

At the city’s northern edge the ground begins to climb uphill, and this has made the suburb of Vulcania a popular mid-price option, and around here we begin to see small villas and terraced houses begin to appear between the apartments. This also has the advantage of being only 1.5km away from the well-respected British School of Catania.

If you are happy to live a little outside the city, the satellite community of Sant’Agata li Battiati offers lovely architecture and more green space, most notably the 135-acre park of Villa Leucatia. Out here you can find nice property for around €2,000/m2, over the Sicilian average but an absolute bargain by the standards of north Italy.

If, on the other hand, you’re determined to put yourself right in the heart of the action, the arterial Via Etnea, a dead-straight strip running from Piazza Duomo which perfectly frames the peak of the volcano on the horizon, is the main thoroughfare of Catanese life. It takes you from the centre of the old town past the gardens of the Villa Bellini, the iconic Pasticceria Savia (home of the city’s best cannoli) the fountain of Ceres and up to the Parco Gioeni. The central stretches are really desirable locations if you don’t mind a bit of noise and aren’t put off by problems finding a parking space.

2. Taormina and the Surrounding Hills

From seminal film The Godfather, much of which was filmed in the villages of Savoca and Forza d’Agrò (the town of Corleone had become too big and modern by the time of filming), to the glamour of HBO’s mini series The White Lotus, set in Taormina itself, the green hills and steep coastline of the south of Messina province, just above the Natural Park of Mount Etna, has evoked deep cultural associations and an unbreakable charm. The spectacular Alcantara Gorge also attracts many thousands of visitors every year.

Taormina, alongside Portofino, Amalfi and Positano, is on of Italy’s Mount Rushmore of glamorous luxury beach resorts. In fact, Taormina proper is two hundred metres above sea level, atop a steep cliff which can be traversed by winding road or popular cable car. Below, around the mysterious Isola Bella, is the beach town of Mazzarò, and north of this the lido-packed seafront of Letojanni. The marbled streets of the old town are lined with luxury boutiques and extravagant hotels, none more opulent than the famous San Domenico Palace, where HBO’s star-studded dark comedy series was set.

The town hosted world leaders for the 2017 G7 Summit, and its ancient Greek amphitheatre welcomes legends of the arts every summer for a Film Festival and a season of open air concerts with the backdrop of Mount Etna picked out on the horizon as the sun goes down.

As you would expect, such a location carries a premium price tag. Expect renovated property in Taormina to set you back at least €5,000/m2. If you are hunting at the luxury end of the market, this is definitely where you’ll find the highest concentration of exclusive villas with swimming pools and sea views.

For better value options, head into the hills and hunt in villages like Castelmola, Gallodoro and Forza d’Agrò, where the views are spectacular and the tourism less intrusive. If you are up for the challenge of renovating a property here you may be able to buy for as little as €4-500/m2.

3. The Natural Park of Mount Etna

The 60,000 hectares of the Etna Natural Park are sub-divided into four zones with varying levels of environmental protection and human habitation. The A zone is about a third of the total area, and covers the highest slopes where nobody actually lives. The B zone, slightly larger, is mostly farmland, home to grazing stock and vineyards that produce the famous wines of the region, as well as olives and other fruit. The C and D areas, however, include small villages and no little tourist trade.

The largest of these communities are Bronte, Adrano and Biancavilla in the west, Belpasso in the south and Giarre and Randazzo in the east. Each of these is a small-to-medium town with between 15,000 and 35,000 residents, and you can expect to find local hospitals, a wide range of supermarkets and bars and restaurants in any of them. Bronte is a particular favourite, noteworthy because its pistachio crop is the most valuable anywhere in the world. Every October the ‘green gold’ is celebrated at a huge festival, and at harvest season the fields are under 24 hour police protection from land and sky to guard against theft. As an extra bonus it, like Randazzo further north, also borders on the Nebrodi Natural Park, making this one of the most beautiful mountain regions anywhere in Sicily.

If you are a lover of winter sports and want a holiday home that can be used all year round, take a look at Zafferano Etnea, a town on the eastern fringe of the park that is the last stop on the road up to the Rifugio Sapienza, where there are ski lifts and slopes that provide a range of challenges for all abilities. Further north, Linguaglossa is the gateway to Sicily’s largest resort, Piano Provenanza.

For sheer visual splendour, it is hard to top Castiglione di Sicilia, at the north-western corner of the park. This hilltop haven, reminiscent in many ways of our perennial favourites Gratteri and Pollina in the Madonie Park, was named as one of Italy’s most beautiful villages by the famous Borghi association. As an added bonus, most of the region’s best wineries are found in this region, too.

In the real estate market you can expect to find town houses and detached properties, with the occasional farmhouse or villa dotting the countryside. Prices vary hugely but are certainly cheaper, on average, than you would expect to pay in either of the previous two areas.

4. Augusta and Ancient Syracuse

Having travelled north in the direction of Messina, we’ll now take you south down the coast that runs into the province of Syracuse.

Once one of the most important cities in the Greek world and home to the famous mathematician and bath-lover Archimedes, the city itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its island old town, Ortigia, is a maze of Baroque palaces, ancient foundations and enchanting backstreets, and the enormous amphitheatre and necropolis which overlook the bay from the hills to the south are also protected by UNESCO. A towering cave known as the Ear of Dionysus is found just around the corner from these ruins, and featured prominently in the 2023 film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

It is the gateway to the Val de Noto, a group of towns at Sicily’s southernmost tip that includes Modica and Ragiusa as well as Noto itself, which are extremely popular, particularly among visitors from the USA and northern Europe. In the centres of these premium locations you can find prices even higher than you encounter in Taormina, up to €6,000/m2, but if you are prepared to look at smaller apartments and lofts, or to take on some renovation work, there are still a few bargains to find.

Modern Syracuse is home to 120,000 residents which makes it Sicily’s fourth-largest city, and with its tourist pull it certainly makes an interesting proposition for investment purchases. The market may be at some risk of saturation, with one international agency noting at the start of 2025 that requests for second homes and vacation rentals account for 90% of the enquiries they receive about real estate in Syracuse. Ortigia is particularly in-demand, and Plemmirio and Fontane Bianche to the south are also extremely popular choices. We would suggest looking, instead, a little to the north, in Priollo Gargallo, where there is a large quiet beach, and especially the peninsula of Augusta.

Like Syracuse, Augusta, has an island centre but this is a less historic and more mercantile spot than Ortigia, driven by the busy port and the region’s heavy industry. However, the coast around the peninsula to the north is spectacular, from Acque Verdi through Acquasanta to Brucoli. As you continue in this direction you’ll come to Agnone, where a sandy beach begins that runs unbroken for a full 20km into the southern suburbs of Catania. Here you can find modern beachfront property that needs little to no investment and attracts few international eyes, making it a great tip for buying real estate in Catania province.

5. Caltagirone and the Province Inland

Although several of the locations we’ve mentioned fall into the provinces of Messina and Syracuse, the territory of Catania extends 60km inland, as far as the fascinating provincial town of Caltagirone. Moreover, while many of the destinations above are famous worldwide, we think this is a recommendation which might easily go overlooked.

Famous for its ceramics industry, the most prized form of the craft in Sicily, Caltagirone is home to about 30,000 residents and retains an unmistakably Sicilian character. Founded by the Byzantines in the tenth century, the architecture and life of the town has that reflects the duality of its Arab-European ancestry. Despite lying 65km north-west of Noto, it is part of the Val de Noto World Heritage Site. If you can judge a city by the company it keeps, it must be noteworthy that Caltagirone is twinned with both San Francisco and Bethlehem!

Twenty kilometres away is Piazza Armerina, famous for its remarkable Roman Villa Del Casale. This amazingly preserved and presented site is famous for showcasing over 3,500m2 of mosaic flooring, with striking subject matter including a variety of animals, scenes from contemporaneous life and athletes competing in a number of different sports.

Most interestingly for many of our buyers, Caltagirone offers incredible value in the property market. In September 2025 real estate gurus Immobiliare.it reported the average price per square metre at just €689. This makes it a prime location for buyers on a budget. It’s reasonable to think that you could buy a holiday home in a characterful town that’s less than an hour from the airport at Catania and 45 minutes from the Mediterranean beaches of Gela and Piana del Signore, with amazing history on your doorstep, an authentic Sicilian atmosphere and all the convenience of small city life for €60,000 or less. Indeed, we have featured multiple properties on our site in exactly this range.

If you plan to move here full time, and are considering running a small business in Sicily, whether agricultural, touristic or a fusion of the two, you may also find this a very fruitful hunting ground. Land is available cheaply in the Sicilian interior, and you may be stunned at how much of it your capital will buy you. Irrigation is an important concern, of course, but if you’ve dreamt of owning an olive grove or running an agriturismo in one of Europe’s sunniest regions, this might be the best place to start your search.

Conclusions: Spoilt for Choice?

If you’re still thinking about getting onto the property ladder in this area of Sicily, you can take comfort in the fact that whatever your needs and budget, there will be a solution for you somewhere in this diverse region.

If you’re in a position to pick up a luxurious sea-view villa, by all means start your hunt in the hills around Taormina but don’t forget to cast your net on the wine country of Mount Etna’s eastern slopes, too. And don’t sleep on the beautiful peninsula around Augusta.

Hunting for a baroque treasure in the historic heart of a busy city? Via Etnea in Catania is a gem, but Ortigia and mainland Syracuse have much to offer, too.

Want a renovation project on a budget? Venture a little inland to the scenic and lesser-seen western side of Mount Etna, or the hills north of Taormina.

Dreaming big, and thinking of acquiring land to build your own home or farm? Look further south to Caltagirone and the surrounding countryside.

And don’t forget, if you cant find it in our listings already, contact us and we’ll help you find exactly what you need.

Ready to start the search?