Ollolai: The Italian town where you can buy a house for $1.70

The town of Ollolai has some cheap homes. Photo / Google Maps

You'd be lucky to find a decent home in Sydney for less than a million dollars.

But don't despair, if you fancy a sea-change there's a place in Italy where you can find a real bargain.

The town of Ollolai, located in the mountain region of Barbagia on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, is selling off 200 abandoned homes for a real steal — €1 ($1.69).

It's part of a desperate bid to help save the region's fading history and prevent it from becoming a ghost town — as its population has dropped from 2250 to just 1300 over the past 50 years.

That's partly because young people have been lured to cities, away from this beautiful and untouched part of Sardinia.

"We boast prehistoric origins," Efisio Arbau, Ollolai's mayor, told CNN. "My crusade is to rescue our unique traditions from falling into oblivion.

"Pride in our past is our strength. We've always been tough people and won't allow our town to die."

But yes, there is a catch to the deal — the stone homes are all in desperate need of repairs and you'll need to commit to refurbishing the home in less than three years. So you're looking at about A$30,000 ($32,797) in the end.

Still a pretty good deal, especially when the average home in Sydney costs A$904,914.