Italy draws wealthy Chinese property buyers with lifestyle and flat tax
Tax incentives, lifestyle appeal and wealth-diversification demand signal potentially stronger Asian participation, which could support transactions in Italy’s prime residential and luxury destination markets.
Italian prime residential sales rose about 140% year on year in the first eight months of 2026, while Chinese buyer enquiries more than tripled q-o-q in 2Q2026.
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Italy is becoming a magnet for wealthy property investors thanks to its high quality of life and flat tax regime, and interest is also on the rise among mainland Chinese and Hong Kong buyers, property agents said.
Rome introduced a flat tax regime nine years ago to attract high-net-worth individuals, with foreign residents allowed to make a flat annual tax payment of EUR300,000 ($434,700) on all their overseas income under the scheme’s latest rules.
This has become a draw for wealthy investors. The number of participants in the scheme has risen from about 3,000 in 2024 to roughly 5,000 currently, according to Knight Frank.
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The property consultancy has also seen a surge in the number of prime residential properties sold in Italy, with deals in the first eight months of the year up by about 140% compared with the same period in 2025.
The buyers are currently mainly from countries including the UK, US, Switzerland, France, India and the Netherlands, noted Knight Frank. But “interest in Italy is growing” among Hong Kong and mainland Chinese buyers as well, said Anna Ward, the firm’s international residential research lead.
For Hong Kong and mainland buyers, the tax considerations are a major attraction, though “lifestyle, diversification and long-term wealth preservation tend to be more important considerations”, Ward added.
About one-third of the prospective Italian property deals Knight Frank had in the pipeline for the autumn period were linked to tax-related relocations, the consultancy said in a separate report.
Demand for Italian real estate was also coming from European second-home buyers, as well as international owners seeking to expand their existing Italian holdings across additional destinations, agents said.
“Italy’s flat tax regime … continues to attract globally mobile wealth, with over 60% of prime international enquiries through Knight Frank now driven primarily by tax considerations,” Knight Frank said.
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“This reflects a broader evolution in demand, from the introduction of the flat tax, through post-Covid lifestyle shifts, to the removal of favourable tax regimes elsewhere such as in the UK.”
Many non-EU residents relocating to Italy under the flat-tax regime also require visa arrangements, with relocation often going hand in hand with property acquisition and broader investment activity, according to Knight Frank.
The visa is open to non-EU citizens investing in Italian businesses, innovative start-ups, government bonds or philanthropic initiatives. Entry thresholds start at EUR250,000.
Other real estate brokers also expect more buyers from mainland China, Hong Kong and the wider Asia Pacific region to snap up Italian property assets.
Buyer enquiries for Italian real estate more than tripled in the second quarter of the year, compared with the preceding three months, according to property tech firm Juwai IQI, which has seven million property listings across 111 countries.
In the first half of 2026, Italy received the 14th highest number of inquiries from prospective Chinese buyers — ranking between Spain and Vietnam — said Kashif Ansari, Juwai IQI co-founder and group CEO.
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The top three were Thailand, Australia and the UK, he added.
“We expect the number of Chinese living and buying residences in Italy to climb in 2027,” Ansari said. “At the top end, the flat tax and residency options are attractive. The Italian market is rising and luxury Italian lifestyle destinations are attracting Asia’s wealthy.”
“Chinese workers find opportunities in Italy’s economy, and nearly one-third of new residency permits going to Chinese citizens are for the purpose of studying in Italy,” Ansari added. “The Chinese are the largest non-EU group at Italian universities.”
An estimated 290,000 Chinese citizens live in Italy, the fourth largest non-EU community in the country, he said. “Their numbers are climbing rapidly, by up to 8% per year,” Ansari said.
For Lisbon-headquartered Maia Properties, wealthy buyers are looking at Europe as a whole and picking the best base that suits their lifestyle and tax needs.
Although Chinese demand for Italian property is still an “emerging trend”, Luiz Felipe Maia, CEO and founder of the real estate broker, said “there is significant room for it to grow”.