Whilst travelling looking for land in Sicily to buy for clients to build a house in Sicily a little local knowledge of dialect and traditional measurements is required. It gets very complicated as different regions of Sicily use the same words for different sizes of land in Sicily.

When evaluating land in Sicily always get an Italian surveyor to document its size in hectares. Remember the crop and quality currently on the land is the principal product you are buying.

Most of the land is agricultural land with restrictive building permission. The restriction is that you can only rebuild a set volume of cubic metres based on the existing registered cubic metres of buildings on the land. Always check with the local Italian land registry, where it will be documented the official volume of buildings on the land. Remember some of the registered buildings may have been knocked down to cultivate the land, so you may have more volume than you can actually see on the land in Sicily. Once you know the existing volume in square metres divide it by 3 (the average height of a room is 3metres) and this will give you the square metres that you can rebuild.

Farmhouse in sicily with 4 hectares

MIPC has available a mix of farmhouses with different plots of land and crops. You too can become part of the Sicilian culture owning your own farmhouse in Sicily producing your own grapes and olives under your own label. Follow this link to download Farmhouse in Sicily.

Sqm = square metre : Sqf =square feet :  1sqm=10sqf

1 Hectare=10,000sqm

Now for the Sicilian land sizes:

Un (one) tumolo = 2,143sqm (in the province of Trapani…remember it varies in different areas.)

Un (1) salma = 16 tumoli = 34,288sqm

1 tomolo = 4 mondelli : 1 mondello = 4 carozzi : 1 carozzo = 4 quarti : 1 quarto = 4 quartigli

So 1 hectare is just under 5 tumuli.

These are important measurements as they originate from the time that the Sicilian barons and land lords handed out land to the peasants to farm. Most farmers in Sicily were given a “Salma”, with a small farmhouse (rudere).

Many farmers are now struggling to work the land as the price of crops has dropped with the opening of European markets. Grapes once were sold onto the vineyard consortiums to produce the wine at 120 euros /kilo now the market is only paying 30 euros/kilo. With manual labour during the vendemmia costing 50 euros per day, they have to collect a lot of grapes for it to pay.

There is an increased trend for the farmers to sell their land in sicily. MIPC is currently sourcing farmhouses in the Sicilian countryside. Prices vary primarily depending on the crops and quality of the land and density of the crops. Most of the farmhouses are very old and need complete restoration.

Uncultivated land costs from 2000 euros/ tumolo  which is 10,000/hectare. The more expensive land having quality grapes or olives can reach 5000 euros/tumolo or 25,000euros/hectare.

The actual farmhouses don’t have a market value as there is limited demand for them, but they still carry a symbolic price, depending on their size and structural state, from 10,000–50,000 euros.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Tre Fontane beach Sicily

Another great day at the beach. Tre Fontane on the south coast of western sicily, not far from Mazara del Vallo and even closer to Selinunte. To be honest i’ve been here in winter when its dead, but amazingly from the months of June to September the rolling sandy beaches and crystal clear water bring  the whole coast line to life.

We arrived late on a sunday morning Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 2% [?]

Sicily villa for sale scopello, zingaro nature reserve.

"wow" villa overlooking beach

View on you tube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PACR62flW_I

Follow this link to view the MIPC property listing of this : Sicilian seaside villa

Exclusive sicilian seaside villa 250m² villa set in 5000m² mature mediterranean gardens overlooking the Scopello bay of Sicily. Situated 5 minutes walk from the Scopello bay locally known as Cala Mazzo di Sciacca. Off the country road leading to the Zingaro nature reserve this villa has the “wow” factor. 4 double bedrooms all with individual bathrooms, 3 small spare rooms, 1 large living room with 6m high ceilings, large outside ground terrace and sun seeking roof terrace.

Sicilian Villa set in mature gardens

A luxury holiday villa up for a quick sale as recently widowed owner does not live here.

Interested parties to act quickly as there is a lot of local interest.

View on you tube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PACR62flW_I

Follow this link to view the MIPC property listing of this : Sicilian seaside villa

Sale price : 1,000,000 : 1 million euros.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 3% [?]

House in Sicily by the sea Zingaro nature Reserve.

Shell structure recntly built overlooking the bay of GuidaLoca, near Scopello and the Zingaro nature reserve, 10 minutes from Castellamre del Golfo.

The structure can be purchased as it is and personally finished or the builder will complete to your personal specification with a  3 month completion in time for this September. Strong rental market.

View a video of the property on You Tube… Buy a villa in Sicily

Popularity: 1% [?]

Salemi Sicily House for sale in Sicily.

Cheap house in Sicily for sale.

This house is located in the centre of Salemi, Sicily. Salemi is the town in Sicily where the mayor is offering local run down property at 1 euro. This house costs slightly more but it is in a good strucutural state and ready to move into. The electrics and bathroom would need modernisation. Great bargain.
Download the MIPC datasheet of this property here…Salemi property for sale in Sicily

Popularity: 2% [?]

Italian Holiday Villa for Sale in Sicily, Italy.

Scopello, Castellamare del Golfo, Trapani, (west Palermo) Sicily.

Palermo (PMO) airport 30 mins / Trapani (TPS) airport 30 mins.
3 bedroom holiday villa located near lo Zingaro nature reserve and close to Scopello. Set in mature private gardens, with patio overlooking the sea and Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 2% [?]

Trapani Airport TPS Sicily

Trapani airport (TPS) is fastly expanding and becoming the gateway to south west sicily, Trapani, Marsala, Salemi, Scopello, Segesta and the Egadi Islands. Historically a military airport. With Ryanair operating flights from here since last year, the airport has transformed Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 7% [?]