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Lanusei: what to know before buying a home

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

Liveability index free for any address

Search for an address in Lanusei

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: Viale Europa 2, Lanusei.

Lanusei, Ogliastra's hillside capital

Lanusei is a small hill town in Ogliastra, eastern Sardinia, built on slopes that look out towards the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the seat of a diocese and shares the role of provincial capital of Ogliastra with Tortolì, the town on the coast. Ogliastra is known well beyond Italy for the long lives of its people: it is one of the places in the world where life expectancy is exceptionally high, studied as a "blue zone".

Buying a home in Lanusei means choosing a town of steep streets, houses built into the hillside and views reaching the coast. The gradient is the first thing to look at. The report measures the elevation and slope of the ground at the address and checks the official landslide hazard maps, as well as the flood maps along watercourses. This information applies to the individual plot, not to the town as a whole.

Otherwise the picture is calm. All 23 municipalities in Ogliastra, Lanusei included, are in seismic zone 4, the lowest step of the national classification. In older houses, what matters most is the upkeep of roofs and walls, insulation and the state of the heating and electrics.

Even a small town has cadastral maps: the Revenue Agency (Agenzia delle Entrate) publishes them for Lanusei, and the report works back to the land parcel from the address.

If you are weighing up a purchase from a distance, the report also shows how far schools, pharmacies and shops are, measured from the exact location of the house rather than from the town centre.

Key points

  • Hillside joint capital of Ogliastra, with Tortolì.
  • Slope and landslide risk to be checked plot by plot.
  • All 23 municipalities in Ogliastra in seismic zone 4.
  • Revenue Agency cadastral maps available.

Overview

Lanusei is the capital of the province of Ogliastra, in Sardegna. At the end of 2023 it had 5,024 residents, the second most populous in the province.

Earthquakes

For Italy's Civil Protection Department, Lanusei is in seismic zone 4, the lowest-risk zone, where strong earthquakes are very rare. All 23 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 8.5%. The estimated average age is 49 years, in line with the province. 29% of residents are over 65 (the regional figure is 27%). Foreign residents make up 2.8% of the population. On average, a household has 2.0 members.

Income and climate

In tax year 2024, taxpayers in Lanusei declared an average taxable income of 20,663 euros, above the provincial average (19,512 euros). The Italian average is 24,895 euros.

Lanusei is in climate zone D, with 1,714 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 590 metres above sea level.

Services

In the official Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health lists, Lanusei has 9 schools and 2 pharmacies. The Overture Maps data also lists 5 grocery shops and supermarkets, 7 healthcare facilities and 1 sports facility.

There are 1.4 healthcare facilities per 1,000 residents, more 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 3.7% of the land in Lanusei, compared with 3.4% in the region. In 2024 built-up land stayed almost the same.

Radon and contaminated sites

Lanusei 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 Lanusei: 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 Lanusei 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 42 inhabited census areas in Lanusei. Half of the residents live in areas scoring 74 or more.

Residents by band

  • fair 15.7%
  • good 70.5%
  • very good 13.9%

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 116010. The text on this page is generated automatically from the data.