Property for Sale in Ostuni, Puglia
Ostuni is known as the White City for the whitewashed old town that covers its hilltop, a few kilometres inland from the Adriatic coast in the Province of Brindisi. Set between the sea, the plain of ancient olive trees and the edge of the Valle d’Itria, it is one of the most popular places in Puglia for foreign buyers.
The Old Town
The centro storico is a maze of white lanes, steps and arches climbing to the cathedral, which has a late Gothic façade with a large rose window. Houses are packed tightly together, many with small roof terraces that look out over the olive groves to the sea. Below the old town, the newer parts of Ostuni have shops, services and apartment buildings.
Homes in the historic centre are usually small apartments or houses on several levels, sometimes with vaulted rooms and a terrace. Renovated ones are in demand for holiday letting.
The Countryside and the Coast
Much of what is for sale lies in the countryside around the town rather than in the centre, among dry-stone walls, olive groves and narrow lanes. The plain between Ostuni and the sea is famous for its centuries-old olive trees, and the coast has sandy beaches and coves at Villanova, Rosa Marina and Costa Merlata. Inland, the land rises towards the Valle d’Itria, the area of trulli.
Cisternino and Ceglie Messapica are hill towns of the Valle d’Itria nearby, Carovigno lies to the south-east with its castle and coast, and Fasano is to the north-west towards Bari.
Property for Sale in Ostuni
Villas form the largest group of listings, usually single-storey country houses with a pool, terraces and olive trees, followed by masserie and farmhouses, a few apartments in the old town and the occasional lamia, the traditional stone farm building with a vaulted roof, to be restored. Prices are moderate: many homes cost between about €130,000 and €350,000, and only a small number of large restored masserie and villas reach seven figures.
Everyday Life and Getting There
Ostuni has supermarkets, schools, a hospital and a weekly market, and stays lively all year, though it is busiest in summer. Local food is based on olive oil, vegetables, orecchiette, burrata and fresh fish from the coast.
The station is on the Adriatic railway between Bari and Lecce. The SS16 dual carriageway runs along the coast towards Brindisi and Bari. Brindisi airport is the closest, and Bari airport has a wider choice of flights.
Buying in Ostuni
For country homes, check how water is supplied, as many rely on wells, tanks or a connection to the regional aqueduct, and whether drainage goes to a septic tank. Building in the countryside is tightly controlled, and new construction usually requires a large plot, so if you plan to extend a trullo or lamia, ask the comune what volume is allowed. Near the coast, landscape and coastal rules also apply.
Old rural buildings often have parts that were never declared. Use a geometra who knows the Ostuni area to make sure the buildings, pool and land on offer appear correctly in the cadastre and the comune’s planning records.