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Like the fish named after it, Sardinia is slippery and elusive – difficult to grasp and pin down. D.H. Lawrence gave up trying to understand the place, deciding it was “lost between Europe and Africa and belonging to nowhere.” Positioned in the centre of the western Mediterranean, this undeniably gorgeous island has evolved a perplexingly mixed identity. Over the centuries its mysterious native civilizations met with wave upon wave of plundering invaders and would-be governors from Lebanon, Tunisia, Spain, and mainland Italy. Add to this jumble of influences the naturally reserved and insular temperament common to islanders everywhere and it’s little wonder the Sardinians have remained a bit of an enigma to the outside world.
Italianized less than 300 years ago, modern-day Sardinia still presents an intriguing diversity of faces. Simple shepherd societies eke out an existence on the wild slopes of its central mountains, while far in the northeast the international rich-and-famous buzz around the super-chic resorts of the Costa Smeralda. In the island’s rural villages, black-clad matriarchs silently patrol the well-scrubbed doorsteps, while in Sardinia’s handful of large towns, stylish and thoroughly modern Italians bustle round on their daily business.
If Sardinia’s human landscape is varied, its physical landscape is even more so. A typical drive might take you from high cliffs overlooking white beaches lapped by electric-turquoise water, through vineyards and olive groves sprouting from paprika-coloured soil, to wide plains sun-baked a brittle yellow. There are low hills cloaked in cork trees, and high mountains in the distance. If you stop the car and take a stroll, you’ll soon be crunching across the scented ‘macchia’ which carpets the land – a tangled undergrowth of myrtle, juniper, heather and rosemary.
With such physical charms, and such gentle, generous inhabitants, you’d expect massive numbers of tourists to have swooped in and trampled Sardinia to dust long ago. In fact, the crowds are still small, and their coming hasn’t generated any glut of high-rise buildings or billboards. It’s just not that sort of island. And careful laws protect it from ever becoming that sort of island. The truth is that sleepy Sardinia is way off most tourists’ itinerary of Italy. Indeed, even though Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean (after Sicily), many people have still never heard of it. Clean, safe, unspoilt and generally uncrowded, Sardinia is a peacefully contented place that doesn’t feel any great need to advertise itself.
[Time of writing is 2008.] Five years ago, Sardinia had only just begun to register on the foreign-buyer radar. The super-rich had been here for much longer than that, of course, and they were one reason why the more average buyer had tended to stay away. The famous presence of the yacht-and-jet-set had given a false impression that the whole island was an expensive playground reserved for the very wealthy. But as budget airlines began progressively opening up the island from the year 2000 onwards, delighted visitors realized that there was far more to this Mediterranean paradise than just the chic Costa Smeralda in the northeast.
A plentiful supply of reasonably-priced property has meant that the number of foreign buyers on Sardinia has risen steadily over the last five years or more. And a handful of new estate agencies specialising in property on the island has cropped up to serve them. Property prices are as high as ever on the celebrated Costa Smeralda (with villas in the millions), but elsewhere on the Sardinian coast you can get two-bedroom apartments from €90,000, or two-bedroom villas from €200,000. Inland, the prices are lowest of all. But even in some of Sardinia’s most popular locations, it’s possible to find property at surprisingly reasonable prices. For example, the much-loved resort of Alghero in the northwest offers one-bedroom apartments in its highly desirable centro storico from €140,000.
Given Sardinia’s manifold charms and affordability, it comes as no surprise that the island is currently experiencing a property market boom. On average, prices across the island went up by an estimated 8% in 2007. And most estate agents here are expecting prices to continue slowly and steadily increasing over the coming years, despite global economy uncertainty. Nicola Cerullo of the Pirelli Re Agency in Orosei says that “At the moment the housing market in Sardinia is expanding very quickly. The coastal areas are seeing the most expansion, although internal areas near tourist attractions are expanding too. Italians are the main buyers but overseas clients are rapidly increasing, especially from the UK, France, Germany and The Netherlands. In some places there are also Russian and Arab buyers.”
Nicola’s property associate David Eidelstein, who runs the online agency Firefly, neatly sums up what’s drawing people to Sardinia: “It has the climate, the food and the beauty that you would associate with Italy, but it also has some of the most unspoilt and breathtaking beaches in the Med. And the frequency of budget flights from the UK has made the island very accessible.”
Phrases like ‘rapidly expanding property market’ are likely to set alarm bells ringing for some of us. Could clean, tranquil Sardinia be on the road to ruin? Will the growing interest of foreign buyers prompt a rash of building development that will scar the landscape and alter the island’s gentle character? Thankfully not. Carlo Vallebona of Explore Sardinia says “Sardinians should definitely thank our governor, Renato Soru, for having issued at the beginning of his office in 2004 the ‘Decreto Salva Costa’ or ‘Coastal Conservation Act’. This prohibits the construction of any new building less than two kilometres from the sea, and so protects the seashore from development. Governor Soru has also just signed the ‘Sardinia Declaration’ in order to save the coast even further. So, for the foreseeable future, Sardinia will be no Faliraki!”
And it’s not just the seaside that’s being fiercely protected. David Howlett of Come to Sardinia points out that the countryside is also being closely guarded. He says “Sardinian legislation has been tightened up so much that there are almost no new builds in agricultural areas now. Also, existing property can only get permission to restore exactly as it was. Often this means few or very small windows, as this is normal in agricultural buildings. If you are lucky you may find a plot of land with planning approval still valid and this can be a cost-effective way to have a villa in an agricultural area.” Silvia Miorini of Immobilsarda notes that she is receiving an increasing number of requests from foreign buyers for plots of land, as well as for old rustico farm buildings.
With strict building restrictions in place and growing numbers of buyers i interested in Sardinia, it’s obvious that property prices on the island can only really go in one direction: upward. In a different economic climate, that upward climb could have been predicted to become very steep. As things are, a more sensible prediction might be that of Sally Usher from Sardinia Property Finder. She says, “I believe Sardinian property will continue to increase in price, but due to the current state of the global market the growth will probably be steady and slow rather than a massive jump.”
As Sardinia is a large and physically varied island with a very wide range of property prices, you’ll almost certainly want some ideas on what areas to consider when property-hunting. We’ll start with the north, where visitors and international buyers first turned their attention, and where prices are still generally a little higher than elsewhere on the island. Note that these higher prices don’t necessarily equate to a lesser bargain, of course. The value of property in the north is high, with excellent holiday rental returns.
The most expensive part of Sardinia, by a long way, is the fabled Costa Smeralda in the northeast – a roughly ten-kilometre stretch of coastline beginning about twelve kilometres north of Olbia. The rocky, cove-riddled shoreline here meets astonishingly beautiful seawater, precisely the colour of liquid emeralds (hence the coast’s name). Since the 1960s, this area has been the playground of the rich and famous, with celebrities who have visited or who have villas in the area being too numerous to mention. The coastal development is extremely tasteful and sympathetic to surroundings, although the absence of any real-feeling village or town can slightly dull the atmosphere. Villas often ask several million euros, and rental returns are the best on the island.
Move either side of the Costa Smeralda and prices change quite dramatically, with little or no concomitant loss of geographical beauty. Some of Sardinia’s best coastal bargains can currently be had a few miles south of Olbia, in places like Budoni and San Teodoro where small apartment complexes have been built over recent years and where you can get a one-bed for less than €100,000. Or you could head northwest from the Costa Smeralda to beautiful places like Santa Teresa di Gallura, where two-bedroom villas start at about €240,000. Just offshore from this area, the La Maddelena archipelago has long housed a US military base. Emilia Saccani of the agency Eurosarda notes that “As the US Navy left La Maddelena earlier this year, and because next year La Maddelena will host a G8 meeting, everybody is expecting a heavy development in tourist infrastructure from Olbia to Santa Teresa di Gallura.” So, now could be a good time to invest.
Moving west, towards the centre of Sardinia’s northern coast, a trio of villages have become real property hotspots with Brits over the last couple of years: Valledoria, Badesi and Castelsardo (where I spent my very first night in Italy in 1997 and first fell in love with the country). Gianni Massa of Sardinian Dreams explains the appeal: “There is the perfect combination of everything – stunning beaches, good restaurants, inexpensive food and wine, good bars and shops, and inexpensive properties. There are kindergartens and schools for families with kids, and the local municipality is investing a lot in better roads, public green areas, etc.”
Nico Ricioppo of Italica Properties agrees that the central northern coast is now very popular with overseas buyers. He notes “It’s easily accessible, being an hour or less from Alghero airport. Prices here have been steadily appreciating at around 10% a year. And there’s talk of building a new international airport within the commune of Badesi.” Two-bedroom apartments with a sea view in Valledoria or Badesi get going at around €120,000, with villas starting around €200,000. Or you could go a short distance inland to a village such as Viddalba, where a large two-bed apartment with garden might ask just €118,000.
Moving across to Sardinia’s northwest, the long-thriving fishing-port-cum-beach-resort of Alghero remains a very significant property hotspot, offering great value-for-money. Some prices are high, but rental returns are extremely reliable. One-bedroom apartments in Alghero’s centro storico generally ask between €140,000 and €175,000, with two-beds starting at €220,000. Villas in the countryside around Alghero are considerably more expensive, starting at about €300,000. A few miles south of Alghero, the revitalised seaside town of Bosa has grown popular with British buyers over the last few years – especially for its colourful townhouses. A typical house needing work in Bosa might ask €120,000-€160,000, while a new-build apartment near the beach might ask €150,000-€180,000. Move inland a little, and village homes needing minor work drop to about €120,000.
The central eastern and central western coasts of Sardinia represent the island’s least visited and least developed seaside. The island’s interior, meanwhile, is less visited still, and it’s here where Sardinia’s very cheapest property lies. Angela Fanunza of My Villa in Sardinia particularly recommends the area round Lake Omodeo near the island’s very centre. “The area is absolutely gorgeous,” she says, “and you can buy a substantial house with lake views here for as little as €25,000.” Closer to the coast, and on the edge of its own lagoon, the attractive town of Oristano is another inexpensive spot that has recently wooed a few foreign buyers. Meanwhile, the Gulf of Orosei area in the west has just started opening up and prices here are very low.
Sardinia’s south, meanwhile, has seen a boom in property sales and prices since budget airlines began serving Cágliari a couple of years ago. Prices down here are still lower than in the north, but they’re increasing more rapidly – which should interest investors. Southern Sardinia has some of the island’s best beaches, and with an increasing number of international European flights into Cágliari the rental prospects down here are very good. The Costa Rei area to Cágliari’s east is a lovely spot sprinkled with new villas, and the Pula area to Cágliari’s southwest is another area increasingly loved by foreign buyers. Seaside villas in the south tend to start at about €200,000. A nice apartment on the outskirts of Cágliari, meanwhile, might ask €150,000.
There’s clearly a lot going on, property-wise, on sleepy Sardinia these days. Places which were little-known five years ago have become much in demand. It will be interesting to see how the island’s market might change over the next five years. Whatever happens, it seems we can rest assured that this beautiful island will never be ‘spoilt’ by over-development. And that makes it a very precious place indeed.
[All quoted prices accurate in 2008]
Set on a rocky headland surrounded by stout medieval walls, Alghero is the northwest’s chief resort. Its thriving fishing port is flanked by a forest of yacht masts, and the town looks from afar like the setting for an exotic fairytale, with Renaissance domes and Venetian bell towers climbing above Moorish and Gothic windows set into pale pink and yellow walls. Inside, the centro storico is an entrancing puzzle of tiny lanes – by day an atmospheric place to wander quietly, at night teeming with an entire population enjoying their passeggiata. Set near lovely beaches and countryside, Alghero has long been loved by Brits and Germans – even more so since Ryanair began flying here in 2000. Rental prospects are great, and property is still good-value. One-bed apartments in the old town currently go for €140,000-€175,000, and two-beds start at about €220,000. Villas in the countryside outside Alghero can be expensive – starting at about €300,000. North of Alghero, Stintino is an eye-watering beauty spot with steep prices in its small complexes of holiday homes. Towards the centre of the north coast, attractive Valledoria, Badesi and Castelsardo have recently seen a flurry of foreign buyers, and prices here are still very reasonable, with two-bed apartments starting at €120,000. South of Alghero, seaside Bosa has attracted quite a few foreign buyers in recent years, with interesting properties at good prices. Inland, Sardinia’s northwest is hilly, fertile and appealing. The island’s second city, Sássari, lies here – an affable and unassuming place.
Sardinia’s tourist industry began in the northeast, on the ‘Costa Smeralda’ about 12km north of Olbia. Legend has it that the Aga Khan bought up the breathtakingly beautiful coastline here in 1962 (together with a consortium of cronies) and turned it into a tasteful resort-area for the rich and famous. Named after the astonishing liquid-emerald water that licks the rocky coves, the Costa Smeralda is still luxurious and exclusive, with the highest property prices – and best rental returns – on Sardinia. From the very start, development has been restricted to traditional local building styles, with nothing above two storeys – ideas which still influence new building across the island. The very minimum you’d pay for a one-bed apartment in the Costa Smeralda area is about €200,000, and most villas are in excess of €1 million. If you can’t afford the Costa Smeralda (or the yachting and golfing set bore you), look at places either side – perhaps the gorgeous Santa Teresa di Gallura area, where you could get a newly-built two-bed villa for about €260,000. South of Olbia, there are some very inexpensive holiday apartments in new developments round Budoni, San Teodoro, et al – with some one-beds going for less than €100,000, and villas starting at about €170,000. Inland, Sardinia’s northeast is quiet and pretty, with craggy hills covered in cork trees. Perhaps the only less-than-lovely spot in the whole northeast is Olbia, a relatively drab and functional port town.
Sardinia’s central west coast, and especially its central east coast, have traditionally seen few visitors. Seaside property prices here are still very low, although visitor numbers are increasing. Oristano is a pleasant west-coast town worth considering – surrounded by canals and lagoons teeming with wildlife. You might pick up a newly-built two-bedroom apartment in this area for about €120,000. Old village homes round here can be a good buy, with €80,000 to €180,000 getting you a place with up to six bedrooms, needing minor work. Further inland, near the very centre of the island, the rural Lake Omodeo area comes recommended as an attractive and very inexpensive place, with substantial townhouses asking less than €30,000. Further east, into the forbidding, densely-forested Gennargentu Mountains, lies the most remote and unvisited part of Sardinia – neglected even by the island’s many historical invaders. A quiet and deeply traditional way of life is lived here by an ageing population in tiny, dying villages. There’s no shortage of wild natural beauty, and if you were exceptionally adventurous, you could benefit from the lowest property prices on the island. Carrying on to the east coast, you’ll find pockets of new development in pleasant, uncrowded places like Orosei and Cala Gonone. Again, you could pick up a small seaside apartment here for less than €100,000. South of Cala Gonone, the east coast is largely empty for many miles, until the ferry-port town of Arbatax.
Sardinia’s south has seen a blossoming market for overseas buyers since the area was opened up by budget flights from northern Europe several years ago. And the number of flights into Cágliari from many European countries has doubled over the last year or two, which means increasing visitor interest and strong holiday rental opportunity. Property prices in the south are still generally lower than in the island’s north, but they have been increasing at a faster rate – some say at double the rate of the north. Cágliari, Sardinia’s capital city, is a bustling and likeable place that’s home to just a quarter of a million people. The old quarter is a high citadel riddled with narrow lanes, while the modern outskirts consist of low-rise apartment buildings. Property in Cágliari is reasonably-priced, and the city offers easy access to some lovely beaches and tracts of countryside. Southwest of Cágliari, the Costa del Sud area is very attractive. There are silky white beaches and crystalline water at charming Pula and Chia. One-bedroom apartments round here can be had for less than €100,000, while villas start at about €200,000. Nearby Santa Margherita is an upmarket resort with a tasteful sprinkling of hotels and holiday complexes. Or you could look east of the capital. 40km east of Cágliari, the Costa Rei is arguably less sensitively developed than the westerly Costa del Sud, but there’s still sufficient charm and good-value property to draw you here too.
Michael Ballance from Staffordshire bought not one, not two, but three properties in northern Sardinia last year [2007]. “I went a bit mad,” he chuckles. He keeps one property as a personal holiday home and rents the other two to holidaymakers.
Why did he choose Sardinia? “I’ve always loved Italy,” he explains. “A few years ago I went on holiday to Sardinia and thought it was really beautiful. Particularly Alghero with its walled town. East Midlands airport is very local to where I live and there are cheap flights to Alghero. It’s easier for us to get to Sardinia than to mainland Italy.”
Michael went on an exploratory property-hunt last year. “I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to buy. I decided to look at different parts of the north, all within an hour or ninety minutes from Alghero. I ended up buying a place in Costa Paradiso, in the middle of the northern coast. It’s on a clifftop looking out to sea, which was always my ideal sort of property. And that really is just for personal use – myself, friends and family. At the same time I was interested in buying an old property in the centre of Alghero, because it’s only ten to twelve minutes from the airport and it would be an ideal place to arrive.”
He met with Maria Grazia Vendone of Alghero Estates. “She said she’d look for properties in the old town but that they were hard to find and often needed lots of renovation. Then she rang and said ‘we’re moving to a bigger office and our little office in the old town will be for sale’. I said ‘I’m very interested!’ and in the end I bought it. It had all the necessary facilities – plumbing and electricity points. I just had to fit a kitchen and put in furniture and a shower. Many people think property in Alghero is very expensive. My experience was that you could buy an apartment in the old town for €140,000.”
Michael also bought his third property, a villa in an unfinished new development just outside Alghero, through Alghero Estates. “I found
them really helpful,” he says. “I had an Italian mortgage, and they sorted that out and opened a bank account for me. They helped me choose furniture, communicated with builders, and translated everything. They now feature my apartment on their website and I’m getting lots of enquiries and bookings. My villa outside Alghero should also rent very easily when it’s finished.”
And what does Michael like most about Sardinia? “The countryside is lovely,” he says. “The people are very friendly, and the lifestyle is so attractive. It’s very family-oriented, very traditionally Italian. And the food is excellent as well!”
Matt and Tina Gaskin from Guildford own a two-bedroom villa in the countryside near Alghero on Sardinia’s northwest coast. They visit it every month and rent it to holidaymakers when they’re not there.
“We chose Sardinia because Tina’s father was born on the island,” Matt explains. “We’ve visited mainland Italy a lot, and we love how Sardinia’s got its own culture, its own language, its own food. And the people are so friendly – that’s what really attracted us. It’s like what England used to be like 50 or 60 years ago – everyone sitting down on Sunday for a meal, all the family. It’s very family-oriented.”
“We bought the villa in December 2005. We’d been looking for three or four years, going out every few months to view villas, and we’ve seen hundreds of them. We eventually bought through an agent called A House in Sardinia. They showed us eight villas in one day, and we fell in love with the very first one and bought it! It’s five kilometres out of Alghero’s old town, and fifteen minutes from the airport, but when you wake up in the morning all you can hear is the tinkling of sheep’s bells in the distance. You can’t hear any cars. It has about 2,700m² of land, two bedrooms, but also a lounge with a sofa-bed so it can sleep six. It’s about two or three years old, and we bought it fully furnished. We paid €190,000 for it, and it’s just been valued – six months later – at €270,000! They’re building more villas outside Alghero, and prices are going up.”
Matt and Tina haven’t struggled to find rental clients. “The villa’s fully booked for August and September, and half of October already. To advertise it, we just use our website, plus our estate agent puts the word around. Our clients are British, Germans and Italians, and our rental rates go from €400 to €1,000 a week.”
As well as enjoying the quiet countryside, the holidaymakers love Alghero itself – as do Matt and Tina. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” Matt says, “with lively bars and restaurants. You can wander up and down the streets all day and still come across new streets, even though it’s not that big.”
Matt advises anyone thinking of buying on Sardinia or anywhere else in Italy to get an Italian mortgage. “The rates out there are a lot lower than they are here,” he says.
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