"The market is on fire at every price level, it is dominated
by local buyers, and you need to move quickly. Properties
are selling within hours of coming to market, and even
when both parties have signed the Compromis de Vente
you will find some unscrupulous agents knocking on the
door trying to scupper the deal. It has always been an
aggressive market here but this is the craziest I have ever
seen it". Those are the words of Dan Norris, who runs the
Leggett team in Nice and along the Côte d'Azur.
For many years, the research teams within the big global
real estate companies have used a "crane count" to gauge
the state of the market. The more active cranes there are,
the hotter the market. A quick look at all of the premium
resorts along the Riviera will confirm that property
development here is rife.
The reasons are threefold:
● Cheap finance (interest rates have been at record
lows and are only now beginning to rise)
● Continued investment in local and regional
infrastructure
● Above all, it is the Côte d'Azur - meaning that every
nationality is represented. If the buyers from one
country go quiet there are others ready and waiting
to purchase.
At the time of writing (May 2022) it is possible to get a
capped variable mortgage over 5 years, with an 80% loan
to value, starting from 0.8%. For those looking longer term
you can fix your rate for 20 years (with no life insurance
required), at 2.2%, with an 85% loan to value. If you read
the regular market reports issued by the Notaires de
France it is this access to cheap finance that has driven
the market, leading to a total of over 1.2m sales nationally
in the last 12 months.
Investment in the Riviera has been huge, with large-scale
development projects consolidating its international
A strong market
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
appeal. Following on swiftly from the success of Sophia
Antipolis (a 2,400 hectare technology park, home to
2,500 companies and renowned as Europe's first science
and technology hub) you will find the French Riviera
Eco-Valley, an operation of national interest (OIN) fully
dedicated to developing eco-technologies and "smart
cities".
Nice International airport is the second largest in France
and it provides exceptional connections with the rest
of the world, with more than 100 destinations in 33
countries. Combine this accessibility with the sheer
number of world class bars, restaurants and boutiques,
add in a unique mixture of fashion/film festivals and
year-round sunshine and you can see why this is a global
destination for HNWI's and UHNWI's.
Property website Meilleursagents estimates that prices in
PACA as a whole have risen by 4.9% over the last 12 months
and by 18.2% over a five year period. The estimated total
housing stock in PACA is around 2.5m properties, with
around 430,000 of these being holiday homes.
An unbeatable eco-system
IT - Sophia Antipolis is Europe's largest technopole, with a 5.6bn euro
turnover.
Artifi cial Intelligence - With more than 300 researchers, the Côte
d'Azur gained the 3IA label in 2019 and plays a leading part in France's
national programme.
Health Tech - there are 313 Healthtech companies in the region,
generating 3.1bn euros of annual turnover.
Perfumes - 8% of global GDP in this sector is generated in Grasse,
generating 730m euros annually.
Academics - the university has over 35,000 students (20% international)
and Sophia Tech campus boasts 2,500 students, 800 researchers and 200
doctoral students in electronics, ICT and mathematics)
source: Invest in Côte d'Azur