Notaire data on how the French coastal property market is faring
Fluctuation in housing prices come as flats see more steady change
Wide variations in property prices are occurring across France’s seaside resorts, French notaires report.
While some resorts are seeing property prices increase by as much as 16.5%, others are seeing falls of -17.8%.
These figures come as part of the latest information from the Notaires de France.
In each quarterly publication, notaires cover a particular market trend, and in July they covered property price fluctuations in France’s 35 coastal resort towns. This excludes larger cities such as Marseille, Nice, and Toulon.
The data covers price changes between January - March 2025 to January - March 2026 for all non-new build flats and houses in the towns.
Our article covering the other major changes seen in the data from this period is available here.
Fewer properties sold on coast
Note that due to the small size of some resorts, changes can seem dramatic due to a lack of sales.
While France recorded around 950,000 sales between May 2025 - May 2026, only around 21,000 sales took place across the 35 resort towns covered between March 2025 - March 2026.
This number remains stable compared to figures from March 2024 - March 2025, however there are some regional variations.
Resorts such as Hendaye, Biscarrosse, and Biarritz recorded significantly more sales, while others saw a decline, notably Agde, La Grande-Motte, Trouville-sur-Mer, and La Baule-Escoublac.
Large variations in price
The limited data can cause large fluctuations in property price data, where one outlier sale can impact overall recordings.
Year-on-year price changes should be taken with a pinch of salt, particularly when falling outside of the annual growth rates experienced across France as a whole (generally between -5% and 5% across the year).
Resorts to see major increases in price were:
Ajaccio (Corse-du-Sud), +16.5% increase for house prices
Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), +13.5% increase for house prices
Dunkerque (Nord), +11.6% increase for flat prices
Ploemeur (Morbihan), +10.3% increase for house prices
Biscarrosse (Landes), +8.3% for flat prices
Several areas saw prices fall by -10% or more across the year, although this generally affected houses and not flats:
Lège-Cap-Ferret (Gironde), -17.8% drop for house prices
Gruissan (Aude), -12.8% drop for house prices
Andernos-les-Bains (Gironde), -12.6% drop for house prices
La Baule-Escoublac (Loire-Atlantique), -12% drop for house prices
Hendaye (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), -11% drop for house prices
“This greater variability [in the housing market] is partly explained by the wide diversity of properties sold along the coast: location, intended use (primary residence, holiday home, or buy-to-let investment), floor area, build quality, and the presence of outdoor space or a sea view all strongly influence prices,” said notaires.
“Consequently, changes in the median price reflect market trends just as much as the characteristics of the properties actually sold during the period.”
North remains most cost-effective option
House prices came in three main ranges.
Some areas saw average prices below €300,000, with many between €300,000 to €600,000, and fewer with prices above €600,000.
The least expensive areas for houses were mostly located in the north:
Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais), €145,000
Dieppe (Seine-Maritime), €172,000
Dunkerque (Nord), €175,800
Gruissan (Aude), €200,000
Cherbourg (Manche), €210,000
Conversely, the most expensive areas were more spread out. While the French Riviera is the most expensive region overall, it does not contain the costliest areas.
The list of most expensive coastal resorts for a home purchase are:
Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (Pas-de-Calais), €1,055,000
Lège-Cap-Ferret (Gironde) €953,500
Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), €805,000
Saint-Raphaël (Alpes-Maritimes), €672,800
Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), €655,000
La Ciotat (Bouches-du-Rhône), €615,000
You can read our article on the housing market across France (including larger cities) here.
A similar distribution was seen with flat prices, with the north generally cheaper and the south costlier overall, but with certain coastal resorts in the north and west being the most expensive.
Note that some areas did not record flat sales (due to a lack of data).
The least expensive resorts for a flat were:
Boulogne-sur-Mer (Pas-de-Calais), €1,540 per m²
Dieppe (Seine-Maritime), €2,260
Cherbourg (Cotentin), €2,300
Dunkerque (Nord), €2,310
Bastia (Haute-Corse), €2,800
The most expensive areas were:
Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (Pas-de-Calais), €8,720 per m²
Biarritz (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), €7,060
La Baule-Escoublac (Loire-Atlantique), €6,290
La Grande-Motte (Hérault), €5,290
Antibes (Alpes-Maritimes), €5,170
Menton (Alpes-Maritimes), €5,030
Our article on wider flat price trends in France can be found here.
The map below shows average prices and their change across the given period. For houses, it shows average price, and for flats price per m².
