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Ficarazzi: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Ficarazzi

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: Corso Umberto Primo 1, Ficarazzi.

Ficarazzi, on the coast east of Palermo

Ficarazzi takes up a narrow strip of coastal plain between Palermo, Villabate and Bagheria, where the Conca d'Oro, the plain around Palermo, narrows between the sea and the mountains. The municipality is tiny and almost entirely built up: houses, flats and warehouses run without a break into the eastern districts of Palermo. Little remains of the citrus groves that once covered this stretch.

For many people this is where they live while working in Palermo. The Palermo-Messina railway and the motorway to Catania pass alongside the town, and the coast road reaches the city in a few kilometres. Most housing is recent and closely packed. Ask your surveyor to check that the property is fully legal: in Sicily it is not unusual to find buildings with amnesty applications for unauthorised work (condono) still pending, and without clean paperwork banks will not grant a mortgage.

It is a young town, and still growing. At the end of 2023 there were 12,823 residents, up 11.7% since 2011 according to Istat, the national statistics office. Only 15.8% are over 65, against 22.8% in the province; the average age is 40.4 and households are large, 2.68 people on average. Foreign residents are very few, 0.7%. The services recorded inside the boundary number 54, not many for the population, as residents rely on Palermo and Bagheria.

Almost every municipality in the province of Palermo (81 out of 82) is in seismic zone 2 on the Civil Protection map. Expected ground acceleration here is 0.176 g, a medium-high value. For a flat, ask when the structure was designed and whether it was calculated to earthquake standards.

Along the coast and near the streams that come down from the hills, the report checks the official flood maps for the exact spot. The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes cadastral maps, so the report goes from the address to the land parcel.

Key points

  • Between Palermo and Bagheria, small and densely built.
  • Population up 11.7% since 2011; only 15.8% over 65.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration 0.176 g.
  • Check planning compliance before completion.

Overview

Ficarazzi is a municipality in the province of Palermo, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 12,823 residents, ranked 11 of 82 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Ficarazzi is in seismic zone 2, a zone where strong earthquakes are possible. Most municipalities in the province (81 of 82) are in the same zone.

In the built-up area, the expected ground shaking (peak ground acceleration, PGA) is about 0.176 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Ficarazzi, the building matters a great deal: ask for the design year, whether it met the 2008 seismic standards, and whether any seismic retrofit has been carried out.

Population

Compared with the 2011 census, the resident population has grown by 11.7%. The estimated average age is 40 years, lower than the province average (45). 16% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 0.7% of the population. On average, a household has 2.7 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Ficarazzi declared an average taxable income of 19,103 euros, below the provincial average (21,337 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Ficarazzi is in climate zone B, with 791 heating degree days: heating may be switched on from 1 December to 31 March, for up to 8 hours a day. The same table puts the town hall at 23 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Ficarazzi has 8 schools and 4 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 6 grocery shops and supermarkets, 3 healthcare facilities and 3 sports facilities.

There are 0.2 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, fewer than the province average (0.7).

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 40.4% of the land in Ficarazzi, compared with 5.7% in the province and 6.6% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

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 Ficarazzi.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Ficarazzi: 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 Ficarazzi 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 32 inhabited census areas in Ficarazzi. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 76 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 10.0%
  • good 82.9%
  • very good 7.0%

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 082035. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.