The Italian Exit

The numbers: €380K, 295m², 11 rooms, villa, Arcidosso. Someone in Barcelona just paid the same for a 60m² flat in Eixample. DM for the listing.

Lake Como is the Italy everyone dreams about. But 800km south in Puglia, you get the same Mediterranean light, centuries-old masserias with olive groves, and properties starting at a fraction of Como prices. The secret is getting out though — foreign buyers in Puglia up 34% since 2023.

Villa del Balbianello, Lake Como, Italy

@2147mill Or skip the 10-year wait entirely. That same £53K buys a renovated 3-bed house in Lecce outright. No mortgage, no LISA, no deposit. Remote workers billing UK clients from southern Italy keep the income and cut living costs by 60%. Different math.

The average UK first time buyer deposit is £53,000. That takes the average person 10 years to save. A LISA gives you: → 25% government top up → Tax free growth on investments → Up to £33,000 in bonuses over your saving period You’re not just saving for a deposit. You’re getting paid to save for a deposit. Is the LISA the most underused account in the UK?

@HenryPryor Kensington flat down 17% to £950K. Meanwhile a 200m² masseria in Puglia with olive groves and a pool is €180K and holding value. The correction isn't just London — it's the entire thesis that overpriced city flats are safe investments.

London flats are falling out of fashion. They were struggling to sell last year and by January the warnings were everywhere and it's getting worse. thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgage…

Hot take: Puglia is the most underrated real estate market in Europe right now. Exhibit A: 720m² masseria in Ostuni for €2200K. DM for listing.

@hamptonism 1,200 euros a month in Cagliari, Sardinia. Beach 10 minutes away, fresh seafood at the market for nothing, 300 days of sun. You keep the other $7K and eat better.

It only costs $8k a month to live in the best city in the world, and change your life forever. I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t live in sf.

Getting residency in a small Sicilian comune took 25 minutes. Walked in, filled a form, got a receipt. Bank account at Intesa Sanpaolo, opened in 4 days. The bureaucracy horror stories are real for Milan. In a town of 8,000 people, they're happy you showed up.

Found a 120m² trullo in Noci, Puglia for €350K. Your London friends are paying more for a 1-bed in zone 4. DM if interested.

@MichaelAArouet Forfettario regime in Italy: 5% flat tax the first 5 years, 15% after. Cap at 85K. A freelancer in Bologna billing the same French clients pays a fraction of this. Same timezone, better lunch.

This chart amazes me every time I see it. A company needs to spend €95k to pay someone a net salary of €39k in France? Who on earth would seriously consider creating new jobs in France? Can you imagine the incentive to replace French office jobs with AI?

@iSlimfit Moving from London to Leeds is rearranging the furniture. For the same remote salary, a 90m2 flat in Pescara is 450/month. Beach town, mountains 30 min away, Ryanair to Stansted. Italy doesn't have a price problem. It has a discovery problem.

The UK cost of living debate always focuses on London but nobody talks about how expensive it’s gotten in Manchester, Milton Keynes and Leeds. The London overflow is real and it’s repricing every major city quietly.

Camogli, Liguria. Fishing village, 30 min from Genova. Watched old guys fix nets on the rocks this morning. Focaccia di Recco for breakfast, so thin you can see through it. 4 euros. Nobody's in a rush.

What €180K gets you in Serravalle Langhe, Piemonte: a 198m² villa with 7 rooms. In London, that's a studio flat in Zone 5. DM for the full listing.

@VivaLaAmes11 Volterra. Medieval, zero tourists, the best wild boar pasta you'll eat. Alabaster craftsmen still working the old way. 90 minutes by bus. Go before summer.

On the train heading home to Florence! What a fun day trip to Siena! Where should we go on our next day trip?

@KobeissiLetter Consumer confidence at 2008 levels. A couple in Piemonte told me they spend 1,400 euros a month total. Rent, food, wine, everything. Same remote jobs they had in Chicago. Different math.

US consumer sentiment is deteriorating as inflation expectations surge: The Consumer Sentiment Index fell -3.3 points in March, to 53.3, its lowest since December 2025. The index is now below the 2008 Financial Crisis low and almost in-line with the 1980s recession bottom. This comes as 1-year inflation expectations jumped +0.4 percentage points, to 3.8%, the largest monthly increase since April 2025. ~66% of consumer interviews were conducted after the start of the Iran War on February 28th, with those respondents reporting significantly worse sentiment and higher inflation expectations than those surveyed before that date. The decline was broad-based across all age groups, with middle and higher-income consumers showing particularly large drops as surging gasoline prices and volatile financial markets weighed on confidence. Consumer sentiment among Americans is at crisis levels.

Italy loses 300K people per year. Sounds bearish. But fewer people chasing the same coastline, the same hilltop villages, the same farmhouses. The government's 7% flat tax for foreign retirees wasn't generosity. It was a recruitment campaign.

@cafreiman You can wait for the politics to sort itself out. Or buy a 100m2 stone house in Umbria for 85K euros tomorrow. Different country, different math.

Fixing housing affordability is a political problem and so in many ways harder to solve than technological problems.

€1180K. 220m². 6 rooms. A villa in Firenze, Toscana. Compare that to a decent 1-bed in Brooklyn in NYC. DM for the full listing.

@BFMImmo Corse, Savoie, Cote d'Azur... memes zones saturees depuis 20 ans. Les prix montent, le rendement baisse. L'Italie a 7 600 km de cotes et personne n'y regarde encore. C'est la que la valeur se cache.

Près de la moitié des logements en Corse, un tiers en Savoie… Les maisons de vacances sont ultra-concentrées à la mer et à la montagne (et la fiscalité ne rebute pas les acquéreurs) l.bfmtv.com/WnvB

What €850K gets you in Ostuni, Puglia: a 122m² villa with 6 rooms. In Paris, that's a 50m² in the Marais. DM for the full listing.

Lunch in a trattoria outside Parma. Tortelli d'erbetta, prosciutto sliced to order, a glass of Lambrusco. 14 euros. The owner brought extra parmigiano because he thought I looked hungry. That's the quality of life nobody puts on a spreadsheet.