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Gratteri: 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 Gratteri

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 I 1, Gratteri.

Gratteri, a Madonie mountain village above Cefalù

The Madonie are the mountains rising behind Cefalù on the Tyrrhenian coast of the province of Palermo, in Sicily, and Gratteri is one of the villages on their seaward side. It sits at about 650 metres inside the Madonie nature park, with the sea visible below and the woods and rock of the mountain above. Cefalù is the town for services, hospital and trains; Palermo is reached along the coast.

The village is small and old. According to Istat, the national statistics office, there were 848 residents at the end of 2023, down 16.8% from 1,019 in 2011. The average age is 51.2, against 44.7 for the province of Palermo, and over-65s are 34.3%, compared with 22.8% provincially. Foreign residents are 2.1%. Average declared incomes are well below the provincial average.

Houses in the centre are old stone buildings of several floors along sloping streets. If you are buying one as a second home near the sea, budget for the roof, services and damp; if you plan to live here all year, heating also matters, since winter is noticeable at this height (climate zone D), and so do the roads down to the coast. The report measures the gradient and reads the official landslide maps for the address.

Gratteri is in seismic zone 2 (zone 1 is the most hazardous), like 81 of the 82 municipalities in the province, with an expected ground acceleration of about 0.181 g. For a stone building, ask for the history of structural work and, if there are no records, have a survey done before completion.

The Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes the cadastral maps, and from the address the report reaches the land parcel.

Key points

  • Madonie village, inside the park, above Cefalù.
  • Population down 16.8% since 2011.
  • Over-65s at 34.3%, against 22.8% in the province.
  • Seismic zone 2, expected acceleration about 0.181 g.

Overview

Gratteri is a municipality in the province of Palermo, in Sicilia. At the end of 2023 it had 848 residents, among the smallest in the province (79 of 82).

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Gratteri 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 0.181 g, a medium-high value: the level with a 10% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, on rock.

For anyone buying in Gratteri, 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 fallen by 16.8%. The estimated average age is 51 years, higher than the province average (45). 34% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 23%). Foreign residents make up 2.1% of the population. On average, a household has 1.9 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Gratteri declared an average taxable income of 15,782 euros, below the provincial average (21,337 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Gratteri is in climate zone D, with 1,734 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 657 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Gratteri has 3 schools and 1 pharmacy.

The data shows no grocery shops and supermarkets within the municipality, against a provincial average of 0.6 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 2.7% of the land in Gratteri, 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 low. 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 Gratteri.

Landslides and flooding

Landslide and flood hazard changes from one street to the next even within Gratteri: 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 Gratteri 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 11 inhabited census areas in Gratteri. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 67 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 27.0%
  • good 73.0%

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 082041. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.