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Arbus: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Medio Campidano, Sardegna. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Arbus

The report looks at the exact point: landslide and flood risk, seismic zone, price per square metre for the area, services and nearby stops.

For example: Via Liberta' 1, Arbus.

Arbus, the Piscinas dunes and the old mines of the Costa Verde

Arbus is one of the largest municipalities in Sardinia by area, and almost all of it is hills, Mediterranean scrub and coastline. The town itself is inland, at around three hundred metres; to the west the roads drop down to the Costa Verde, with the Piscinas dunes, tens of metres high, and the resort of Torre dei Corsari.

For more than a century the area lived off its lead and zinc mines. Ingurtosu, a district of Arbus, and Montevecchio, on the border with Guspini, are mining villages partly abandoned and partly restored, both within Sardinia's Geomining Park. The end of mining shows in the population. In 2023 Istat, the national statistics office, counted 5,658 residents, down 13.9% since 2011, or 917 fewer people. The estimated average age is 50.9 against 49.4 for the province, over-65s make up 31.6% and foreign nationals just 1.0%. Even so, Arbus is still one of the larger towns in Medio Campidano.

Buyers face two quite separate markets. In town there are family houses, often needing work, and the basic services; on the coast most properties are holiday homes and tourist accommodation used in summer, far from town and reached by long hill roads. Tourism shows in the figures: there are 6.72 bars and restaurants per 1,000 residents, against 4.16 in the province. For shops and healthcare, on the other hand, the municipality is below average, and many errands mean a trip to the towns of the Campidano plain.

All 28 municipalities in the province are in seismic zone 4, the lowest in the Civil Protection Department's classification, and in Arbus the expected acceleration is about 0.050 g. Other things matter more here. By the sea, wind and salt wear down render, window frames and the steel in reinforced concrete; in the old mining areas, ask whether the ground has been cleaned up and whether any protection rules apply.

Cadastral maps from the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) are published, and the report traces the land parcel from the address even for isolated houses in the countryside or on the coast.

Key points

  • Piscinas dunes and the Costa Verde, with many summer holiday homes.
  • Mining villages of Ingurtosu and Montevecchio in the Geomining Park.
  • Population down 13.9% since 2011, over-65s at 31.6%.
  • Whole province in seismic zone 4, acceleration about 0.050 g.

Overview

Arbus is a municipality in the province of Medio Campidano, in Sardegna. At the end of 2023 it had 5,658 residents, ranked 7 of 28 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Arbus is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 28 municipalities in the province are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.050 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

In zone 4 the risk is low, but for an older building it is still worth asking about the state of the structure.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has fallen by 13.9%. The estimated average age is 51 years, in line with the province. 32% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 1.0% of the population. On average, a household has 2.0 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Arbus declared an average taxable income of 17,914 euros, below the provincial average (19,085 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Arbus is in climate zone D, with 1,402 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 November to 15 April, for up to 12 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 311 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Arbus has 5 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 3 grocery shops and supermarkets, 1 healthcare facility, 3 sports facilities and 1 green area.

There are 0.2 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.5).

Public transport

We do not yet have open public transport timetables for this municipality: the report says so explicitly, without inventing distances.

How built-up it is

Buildings, roads, car parks and other sealed surfaces cover 1.7% of the land in Arbus, compared with 3.4% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Arbus is one of the municipalities designated as a radon priority area by the Regione Sardegna in 2022. According to the ISPRA map, the estimated radon emission in the municipality is medium. Radon varies from building to building and can only be known by measuring it, especially on ground floors and in basements.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Arbus: the report checks the address against the ISPRA maps.

House prices

The Revenue Agency's price ranges per square metre (OMI) apply to zones, not to whole municipalities: the report gives the range for the address's zone.

Land registry

The cadastral maps for Arbus are public: from the address the report finds the sheet and parcel number.

Liveability area by area

The Vicinalia liveability index runs from 0 to 100 and looks at the place, not the people who live there: services within walking distance, transport, green space, natural hazards, air, quiet, buildings and connection. Here it is worked out at the centre of each of the 56 inhabited census areas in Arbus. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 78 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 1.5%
  • good 63.1%
  • very good 35.4%

Vicinalia index by census area, licence CC BY-SA 4.0. Data: IdroGEO ISPRA (2026), Istat, INGV, EEA, AGCOM, Overture Maps and OpenStreetMap.

The colour is the value at the centre of the area. For an exact address, search for it above: the free check looks at that exact point. How the index is worked out

Data sources

ISTAT code 117001. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.