This contented, sophisticated region offers every geographical delight as well as some of the very best food in Italy. Rural homes in its Tuscany-bordering hills offer exceptional value for money too, says Fleur Kinson

If you’ve never heard of Emilia-Romagna, that’s only because this happy, prosperous place feels no need to advertise itself. You’ll surely have heard of the region’s cities and products, though. Emilia-Romagna is the home of radiant Bologna, jewel-like Ravenna, joyful beach-babylon Rimini, cosy Parma and dreamy Ferrara. It’s also the home of Parmesan cheese, Parma ham, balsamic vinegar, lasagne and a rather well-known pasta sauce called bolognese. Oh, and it’s the home of car manufacturers Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini. Hmmm, fine food and fast cars. Sounds like a place with a high quality of life, doesn’t it?

Emilia-Romagna has one of the highest standards of living of all Italy’s regions. Affluent and orderly, it has hardly any crime and a very low rate of unemployment. But it’s no hotbed of stressed, moneydriven workaholics either. Like most northern Italians, Emilia-Romagnans prefer to keep a healthy work-life balance. The region’s pace of life is comfortable and unhurried, with plenty of time made available for strolling round town, sitting in restaurants and going to the opera. At weekends and in the holidays, urban workers decamp to the beach or into the tranquil wooded mountains. An excellent travel infrastructure and a low population density means it’s easy to get around.

The university city of Parma is famed for its cheese and ham

And you’ll want to get around, because there’s so much to see. The region’s urban gems are irresistible, but so are its rural landscapes. All of Emilia-Romagna’s long southern border with Tuscany and Le Marche is an undulating wonderland of hills rising into the tranquil heights of the Apennine mountains. Emilia-Romagna’s eastern edge, meanwhile, is a long line of golden beaches slipping into the warm, shallow Adriatic Sea. Central and northern stretches of the region are dominated by pretty cropfields rustling beneath wide skies. As well as its own delights, Emilia-Romagna also offers easy access to some very lovely places just beyond its borders. Venice is not that far away, nor are the chic beaches of Liguria, nor all the cultural treasures of Tuscany.

THE MARKET

Right now is an excellent time to buy a home in Emilia-Romagna, as prices are at a five-year low but not expected to go any lower. In some rural hill locations – which were very good value to begin with – prices are almost half what they were five years ago. In cities and on the coast, prices are also slightly lower today. There are several reasons that these decreases have slowly crept into being. First, there was the very long tail of the 2008 international financial crisis, which caused a big drop in the buying of second homes abroad, and while this didn’t translate into a lowering of prices in Italy for many years, it did eventually. Second, there have been the manifold uncertainties created by the UK’s decision to leave the EU, which have made many British buyers (traditionally one of the largest groups of buyers in Italy) delay buying a home in Italy, or indeed anywhere on the continent. And third, there were changes in Italian law which have made it more expensive for Italians to own a second home. The end result of all these things? Fewer buyers, and eventually lower prices.