Where to buy in the South of France: Provence, the French Riviera or the Languedoc, town by town

Where should you buy in the South of France?

For most buyers, the South of France means the Mediterranean arc: Provence, the French Riviera and the Languedoc. The Riviera is the most international and the most expensive; Provence sells on its land, its bastides (Provençal country houses) and its villages; the Languedoc still offers space at prices the Riviera left behind long ago.

Recorded sales show the scale: median house prices stand at €5,500/m² in the Alpes-Maritimes, €4,200/m² in the Var, €2,900/m² in the Vaucluse, €3,000/m² in the Hérault and €2,600/m² in the Pyrénées-Orientales (DVF / DGFiP via data.gouv.fr, October 2026 release, 12 months to end of June 2026). Between neighbouring towns, the gaps are wider still.

Four questions decide the right place.

• How you will use it: living there all year calls for a town that does not shut down in winter; a holiday home can live with a more remote village.
• Sea or hinterland: a sea view commands a steep premium; twenty minutes inland, the same budget buys land and quiet.
• Access: a TGV station or an airport within an hour changes how often you will actually use the house.
• Budget: it often points to a region before taste does.

This guide covers the where and the why; for the properties themselves and their prices, see buying a house in the South of France.

Which part of Provence: the Pays d’Aix, the Alpilles or the Luberon?

Inland Provence comes in three landscapes, less than an hour apart. It was the first territory Home Select opened outside Paris: its founder lives in the Pays d’Aix.

The Pays d’Aix: the Provence that lives all year round

Aix-en-Provence brings together the private mansions of the Mazarin quarter, apartments in the old centre and the bastides of the surrounding countryside. The median house price is €6,000/m², and the most expensive tenth sold above €10,300/m². Around the city, Le Tholonet, Éguilles and Puyricard (€6,000/m² for houses) offer land and often a view of Mont Sainte-Victoire, close to the TGV station and Marseille Provence airport. This is Provence for families: a university, good schools and a cultural life all year round.

The Alpilles: a mas at the foot of the hills

Between Avignon and Arles, the Alpilles regional nature park takes in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, Eygalières, Maussane-les-Alpilles and Les Baux-de-Provence. Buyers look for a mas (a Provençal farmhouse) in the plain or a bastide set against the limestone ridge; value lies in the olive grove, the water, the view and the quiet. Saint-Rémy, a town that lives all year, shows a median of €5,500/m² for houses, Maussane €5,600/m²: see buying a mas in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.

The Luberon: hilltop villages and second homes

Further east, the Luberon strings together Gordes, Bonnieux, Ménerbes, Lacoste and Lourmarin. The market is narrow and very international, made of restored farmhouses and village houses, often sold without a listing. In Gordes the median house price is €6,600/m², against €2,900/m² across the Vaucluse: see buying a mas in Gordes. These villages come alive in summer and quieten in winter. Avignon, 2 hours 40 from Paris by TGV, is the gateway to both the Luberon and the Alpilles (€2,500/m² for houses).

In more detail: buying a house in Provence and buying a house in the Luberon.

Where can you buy by the sea in Provence?

From Marseille to Sanary-sur-Mer, the Provençal coast alternates calanques (steep limestone inlets), harbours and vineyards. In Marseille, the prime market sits on a narrow coastal strip, from Roucas-Blanc to Pointe Rouge, and in the 8th arrondissement: the median house price is €4,600/m², but the most expensive tenth goes above €8,900/m².

Cassis, between the calanques and Cap Canaille, is one of the most closed markets on the coast: houses sell too rarely for a reliable median, apartments at €7,000/m². Further east, La Ciotat (€5,900/m² for houses), Bandol (€6,800/m²) and Sanary-sur-Mer (€6,200/m²) combine working harbours, villas in the hills and vineyards.

• The sea-view villa, in the hills of Bandol or Roucas-Blanc, rare and fought over.
• The apartment facing the harbour, in Cassis or Sanary, easy to lock up between stays.
• The village house two streets back from the water, more affordable and lively all year.

Building in salt air, the Loi Littoral (the coastal planning law) and the price of a view have their own guide: buying by the sea.

Where should you buy on the French Riviera?

The French Riviera, the Côte d’Azur in French, runs from Saint-Tropez to Menton and is the most international residential market in France. In the Alpes-Maritimes the median apartment price is €4,900/m²; in Nice the median house reaches €6,500/m², and far more on the capes.

From Nice to Menton: the Riviera of the capes

Nice is the residential capital of the Riviera: Belle Époque buildings in the Carré d’Or and Cimiez, villas on Mont Boron, an international airport on the edge of town. To the east come Villefranche-sur-Mer, Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Èze (€12,400/m² for houses), Roquebrune-Cap-Martin (€13,100/m²) and Menton, reputed to have the mildest climate in France. Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, one of the most closed markets in the world, recorded just 56 sales in a year: its villas often change hands without ever being advertised.

Cannes, Antibes and the hills

Cannes has the most liquid market on the Riviera, from the Croisette to the villas of La Californie. Antibes plays on two registers, the old town and the Cap d’Antibes, a confidential market of world standing: the median house price is €6,800/m², and the top tenth sold above €14,800/m². Inland, Mougins (€7,300/m²), Valbonne, Saint-Paul-de-Vence and Grasse offer land and lively villages, close to the Sophia Antipolis technology park.

The Gulf of Saint-Tropez and the Var coast

In the Var, the Gulf of Saint-Tropez is a market of its own: the median house price reaches €25,000/m² in Saint-Tropez and €18,200/m² in Ramatuelle. Sainte-Maxime lives all year; Grimaud, Le Lavandou and Saint-Raphaël offer the sea at other prices, and the hinterland around Fayence (€4,000/m²) the calm of hilltop villages. The gulf is highly seasonal and far from the main stations and airports.

For villas, from the capes to the hills: buying a villa on the French Riviera.

Where should you buy in the Languedoc?

The Languedoc, the Mediterranean side of the Occitanie region, offers historic towns that live all year, characterful coastlines and old houses at prices still within reach: the median house price is €3,000/m² in the Hérault, €1,800/m² in the Aude and €3,700/m² in Montpellier itself.

• Montpellier and Sète: Montpellier, the most dynamic city on the Mediterranean arc, hides private mansions in its old centre, the Écusson, fifteen minutes from the sea; Sète, between the sea and the Thau lagoon, lives all year (€4,800/m² for houses).
• Nîmes and the Uzège: Nîmes has its Roman arena, the Maison Carrée and town mansions to restore (€2,800/m² for houses); Uzès, the first duchy of France, is ringed by stone farmhouses (€3,800/m² for houses in the town): see buying a mas in Uzès.
• The Côte Vermeille: Collioure is a miniature market where almost nothing is advertised; apartments sell at €5,300/m².
• The hinterland: from the Béziers area to the Corbières, wine estates and manor houses for those who want space more than the sea.

The TGV, the universities and the hospitals of Montpellier and Nîmes make it a South to live in all year; its exceptional properties remain rare and go fast. See buying a house in the Languedoc.

What about the South West?

Some buyers also weigh up the South West, Atlantic and greener: the French Basque Country, where the median house price in Biarritz is €7,900/m², the Dordogne (€1,600/m² across the département), Toulouse or the Arcachon basin. An ocean climate, less scorching summers: a different life, with its own guides.

How much does a house cost in the South of France?

For a house, the price per square metre divides the total price, land included, by the built floor area: a large garden or a sea view inflates it.

A median mixes town houses with properties on land, and the finest sales, often off-market, pull the top of the range up: in Saint-Tropez, a tenth of houses sold above €53,200/m²; in Uzès, a tenth below €2,400/m².