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Fobello: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Fobello

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 Francesco Rizzetti 4, Fobello.

Fobello, at the head of the Mastallone valley

From Varallo, instead of carrying on up the Sesia, a road turns into the Mastallone valley and climbs a narrow, wooded valley to Fobello, the last village, at around 900 metres. Beyond it lie summer pastures, scattered hamlets and footpaths towards the mountains. Almost all the land is natural, with a tiny share taken up by houses and roads.

Few people live here all year, and they are fairly old. In 2023 Istat, Italy's national statistics office, counted 183 residents, down 16.4% from 219 in 2011. The estimated average age is 55.8, against 48.4 in the province of Vercelli, over-65s make up 34.4% and households average just 1.51 people. In summer many owners of holiday homes come up.

Traditional houses are stone, with timber balconies and stone-slab roofs, and need constant upkeep. A holiday home closed for much of the year can hide leaks from the roof and services that need replacing, so have a surveyor look round before making an offer. Climate zone F means long, cold winters, and for schools and services you drive down to Varallo.

Fobello is in seismic zone 4, the lowest class in the Civil Protection classification, like almost the whole province: 81 municipalities out of 82. Expected ground acceleration is about 0.060 g, so the priority is the state of the building rather than earthquake risk.

In a narrow valley, landslides, avalanches and floods from the stream depend on the exact spot: the report checks the official maps for the address and finds the land parcel on the Revenue Agency's cadastral maps.

Key points

  • Last village up the Mastallone valley, above Varallo, at about 900 m.
  • 183 residents in 2023, down 16.4% since 2011.
  • Households of 1.51 people, average age 55.8.
  • Seismic zone 4: the state of the building matters most.

Overview

Fobello is a municipality in the province of Vercelli, in Piemonte. At the end of 2023 it had 183 residents, ranked 69 of 82 municipalities in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Fobello is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. 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 0.060 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 16.4%. The estimated average age is 56 years, higher than the province average (48). 34% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 4.9% of the population. On average, a household has 1.5 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Fobello declared an average taxable income of 19,653 euros, below the provincial average (24,991 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Fobello is in climate zone F, with 3,439 heating degree days, with no limits on when heating may be used. The same table puts the town hall at 873 metres above sea level.

Services

In the Overture Maps data, Fobello has 2 grocery shops and supermarkets, 1 sports facility and 1 green area.

The data shows no schools within the municipality, against a provincial average of 1.1 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 0.8% of the land in Fobello, compared with 5.0% in the province and 6.7% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Fobello 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 Fobello.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Fobello: 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 Fobello 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 17 inhabited census areas in Fobello. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 60 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 100.0%

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 002057. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.