Hamid Zeighami’s lifelong love of Italy culminated in buying a home in Florence last year—and he wasn’t the only international buyer to choose Tuscany for a vacation home. Last year, international inquiries into purchasing Italian homes rose 126.65%, compared with the prepandemic 2019 figures, according to gate-away.com, a property platform for overseas investors in Italy.

Narrowing its figures to just American investors in Italian property shows an increase of 223% in 2022, compared with 2019. “I decided to buy in Tuscany after visiting many times because of the strong dollar, the ability to get a good price on a home and because I wanted to spend more time overseas after the pandemic lockdown,” says Zeighami, 61, CEO of Toronto-based R Courier. “At the end of the day, I wanted a place with character and history.”