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Balme: what to know before buying a home

A municipality in the province of Torino, Piemonte. Official data on earthquakes, population, services and transport.

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Balme

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 Capoluogo 1, Balme.

Balme, the last village in the Val d'Ala

At the head of the Val d'Ala, the middle one of the three Lanzo valleys, the road ends at Balme, above fourteen hundred metres. The village has a tradition of mountain guides going back to the nineteenth century, and higher up lies the Pian della Mussa, a grassy basin where walks to the mountain huts begin with springs that supply part of Turin's water.

For buyers, Balme is mostly a place for second homes and for real mountain living. Winters are long, climate zone F, and the valley has a single access road. Before deciding, find out how you would reach the house in snow, what it costs to heat and what state the roof and windows are in. Many buildings are of stone, set into the slope, with ground-floor rooms that were once byres or stores.

Unlike many mountain villages, Balme has gained residents: 101 in 2023, against 95 at the 2011 census, a rise of 6.3%. The estimated average age is 49.3, and over-65s make up 23.8%, fewer than the 26.4% for the province of Turin. Declared incomes remain below the provincial average.

Balme is in seismic zone 3, on the scale set by the Civil Protection Department, like 270 other municipalities in the metropolitan area, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.125 g. With a stone house, it helps to know whether the floors have been strengthened and whether the roof is properly tied to the walls.

With steep slopes and mountain streams, landslides and flooding are assessed house by house: the report checks them on the official maps at the exact address and finds the land parcel on the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) cadastral maps.

Key points

  • Last village in the Val d'Ala, in the Lanzo valleys.
  • Residents up 6.3% since 2011.
  • Over-65s at 23.8%, against 26.4% in the province.
  • Seismic zone 3, expected acceleration about 0.125 g.

Overview

Balme is a municipality in the province of Torino, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 101 residents, among the smallest in the province (306 of 312).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Balme is in seismic zone 3, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible but rare. The region uses a finer breakdown: here the classification is 3S. Most municipalities in the province (271 of 312) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.125 g, a moderate value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

Even in zone 3, seismic standards apply to new buildings: for an older building, ask about the design year and any structural work.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has grown by 6.3%. The estimated average age is 49 years, higher than the province average (47). 24% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 1.0% of the population. On average, a household has 1.5 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Balme declared an average taxable income of 20,749 euros, below the provincial average (27,231 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Balme is in climate zone F, with 4,502 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 1,432 metres above sea level.

Services

In the Overture Maps data, Balme has 1 green area.

The data shows no schools within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.8 per 1,000 residents.

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 0.4% of the land in Balme, compared with 8.6% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Balme is not among the radon priority areas designated by the Regione Piemonte in 2023. 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.

Official databases list no contaminated sites in Balme.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Balme: 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 Balme 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 8 inhabited census areas in Balme. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 68 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 25.7%
  • good 74.3%

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 001019. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.