Buy a house on the French Riviera

The most sought-after hilltop villages are Èze, between Nice and Monaco, Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Vence in the hills behind Nice, and Gassin and Ramatuelle on the Saint-Tropez peninsula; Biot, Bormes-les-Mimosas, La Turbie or La Garde-Freinet offer the same village life, often for less. These are narrow markets: Èze recorded just 78 sales of all types over 12 months to end of June 2026. Home Select watches these villages constantly, as the right house often goes before it is advertised.

A village house gives you life on foot, the market and often a spectacular view, but little light downstairs, no garden and rarely a parking space. A villa gives you land, a pool and quiet, at the cost of driving everywhere and heavier upkeep. Home Select can show you both before you decide, and our page on buying a villa on the French Riviera covers that second market.

Over 12 months to end of June 2026, the median house sold for €4,200/m² in the Var against €5,500/m² in the Alpes-Maritimes. The Var, larger and more rural, sells many houses inland and among the pines, whereas the Alpes-Maritimes squeeze theirs into a narrow strip between the sea and the mountains. On the Var coast the gap disappears: Sainte-Maxime (€8,100/m²) and Saint-Tropez (€25,000/m²) are dearer than most towns in the Alpes-Maritimes.

In the hills, where there is room: Mougins, Valbonne, Roquefort-les-Pins (€6,500/m² median), Biot, Vence or the heights of Grasse in the Alpes-Maritimes, and the Pays de Fayence or the hills above Sainte-Maxime and Les Issambres in the Var. By the sea, pools are rarer and dearer, and the Coastal Law often restricts new building. Before any offer, Home Select checks that an existing pool was declared, or that the local zoning plan allows a new one.

Beausoleil and Cap-d’Ail, which border the Principality, are mostly apartment markets. Houses lie a little further out: in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (€13,100/m² median), in Èze (€12,400/m²), in La Turbie, perched high above the Rock, and in the hills of Menton, a quarter of an hour from Monaco. Allow for rush-hour traffic: Home Select times the real commute before suggesting a house.

Yes, and many families do. Nice, Antibes, Cannes, Grasse, Vence and Saint-Raphaël live all year round; around Valbonne, Biot and Mougins, the Sophia Antipolis technology park and its international schools have created a market for family houses. The Gulf of Saint-Tropez and some hilltop villages empty out in winter, so an off-season viewing shows you the house as you will live in it in January.

In a village house or a bastide, the same big items keep coming up: roof and timbers, damp, wiring, drainage, insulation and heating. A house rated E, F or G on its energy performance certificate must now be sold with an energy audit that sets out works and their cost. Bring in an architect or a builder before the offer, so that you decide on quotes rather than impressions.

Yes, because an old house hides more traps than an apartment: a right of way, substandard drainage, an extension that was never authorised, unbuildable land. An estate agent works for the seller; a buyer’s agent works for you alone, from shortlisting to negotiation. Home Select, a buyer’s agent on the French Riviera, adds its network of 15,000 agents and professional partners and fees due on success only.

Over 12 months to end of June 2026, the median price per square metre of houses on the French Riviera ranged from €4,000/m² in Fayence to €37,400/m² in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat. Alpes-Maritimes: €5,500/m² median for houses, over 4,000 sales. Var: €4,200/m² median for houses, over 8,948 sales (DVF / DGFiP via data.gouv.fr, October 2026 release, 12 months to end of June 2026). Home Select reads these figures street by street before any offer: view, land and condition make most of the price.

The calendar depends on how rare the target property is in {nom} and on your availability: Home Select frames it at the brief, then holds it. Properties are first seen on video, and your decisive viewings are grouped into a single trip.

Through the network and direct approach: Home Select receives more than 100 properties every day from its 15,000 professional partners before they go on sale, and also contacts owners when the setting calls for it. In {nom}, the monitoring starts with two sectors: Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat and Saint-Tropez. That is often where the unfindable property is.

Home Select, a buyer’s agent on the French Riviera, charges 2.5% of the net purchase price (minimum €10,000 incl. VAT) on the Exclusive offer, or 1.5% on the Confidential offer for projects of €2m and above, plus 10% of the negotiated reduction in both cases. Home Select is paid on success only, and also on what you save: nothing is due until you have bought.