House Prices Turn Up Across France — Tours and Metz Lead the Pack

France’s housing market is back to steady growth — what buyers and investors need to know

If you follow the real estate France market, the latest Notaires de France report will catch your attention: after the post-Covid wobble, the country’s house prices are moving up again. The data, covering sales of non-new-build houses up to 31 December 2025, shows slow but broad-based increases, with a handful of cities posting double-digit-like momentum compared with recent quarters.

We read the full Notaires de France release and mapped the implications. Below we explain which cities rose, which fell, how affordability now looks across regions, and what this means for buyers and investors who are weighing moves or purchases in 2026.

Where prices rose fastest — and where they fell

The report compares prices for non-new-build houses between October–December 2024 and October–December 2025. Non-new-build houses are typically properties built more than five years ago with at least one prior owner; the category excludes new-build and many flats, and so gives a clearer view of the established-house market.

The strongest year-on-year increases were concentrated in medium-sized cities rather than Paris. The notable winners were:

• Tours (Indre-et-Loire): +8.3%
• Metz (Moselle): +6.6%
• Dijon (Côte-d'Or): +5.9%
• Montpellier (Hérault): +5.8%
• Lyon (Rhône): +5.5%
• Brest and Marseille/Aix (Finistère; Bouches-du-Rhône): +4.3%

A handful of cities recorded declines, though the magnitude of falls is smaller than earlier in 2025 when some markets saw drops exceeding 10%. The largest year-on-year falls reported were:

• Grenoble (Isère): -3.2%
• Haute-Corse: -2.9%
• Limoges (Haute-Vienne): -2.5%
• Nantes (Loire-Atlantique): -1.9%
• Corse-du-Sud: -1.6%
• Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle): -1.5%

What we see in the data is a market reorientation. Cities that lost value earlier in 2025, including Tours and Montpellier, have swung back into growth. The Corsican departments, which enjoyed sustained gains previously, now show small declines, indicating a correction after rapid appreciation.

The most and least expensive markets for houses

If you focus on where to buy for lifestyle reasons or for capital preservation, price levels matter more than short-term changes. The Notaires report lists average prices for houses by area, and the south remains the most expensive territory outside Paris. Key figures are:

Most expensive areas (average price for a house):

• Toulon (Var): €450,000
• Corse-du-Sud (Southern Corsica): €440,000
• Montpellier (Hérault): €402,400
• Lyon (Rhône): €400,900
• Marseille/Aix (Bouches-du-Rhône): €391,500

Most affordable areas:

• Châteauroux (Indre): €118,100
• Amiens (Somme): €169,700
• Limoges (Haute-Vienne): €171,100
• Poitiers (Vienne): €175,500
• Troyes (Aube): €177,100

Note that Nice and Paris are not directly comparable on the houses map. Nice has relatively few house transactions compared with flats, and Paris’s stock is dominated by flats; the Notaires house dataset treats Île-de-France separately for this reason.

Flats vs houses: different momentum

The Notaires report also examined apartment (flat) prices over the same period. Flats are moving more strongly in many areas than houses, with some northern towns showing price per m² increases approaching double digits. That matters because:

• Many city-center buyers and investors target flats rather than houses. The stronger per m² growth in flats suggests demand is concentrated in denser urban markets.
• Mortgage underwriting, rental demand, and resale dynamics differ by property type; you cannot assume a house in the same city will perform like an apartment.

Our analysis: if you are investing for rental yield or frequent tenant turnover, look at the flat market data as well as house prices. In several cities the flat market is leading the recovery.

Regional patterns and what’s driving the movement

Several consistent themes emerge from the Notaires numbers and from what we observe in market activity.

• The south remains expensive. Coastal and southern cities top the price list for houses, driven by lifestyle demand, stronger seasonal rental markets, and limited land supply.
• Medium-sized regional cities are outperforming some large metros. Places such as Tours and Metz show robust gains, reflecting local demand, improved transport links, and affordability relative to Paris and the Côte d’Azur.
• Corrections in formerly hot spots. Corsica is correcting after earlier sharp rises. Grenoble and Limoges are seeing the opposite pressure, with falling prices.

Drivers behind these movements include mortgage rate trends, household relocation patterns since the pandemic, and shifting investor appetite. Interest rates affect purchasing power and thus transactional velocity; when rates stabilise, price growth tends to follow in markets with steady demand.

Practical implications for buyers and investors

Here is how we read the numbers and what we recommend depending on your position:

Buyers seeking affordability

• Target areas where average house prices are low and local market fundamentals are stable. The Notaires list shows Châteauroux at €118,100 and Limoges at €171,100, which remain among the most affordable.
• Check local employment trends and vacancy rates. Low prices do not automatically mean good investment unless local demand exists.

Buyers seeking growth

• Look at cities that recorded solid year-on-year increases and enjoy healthy local economies. Tours (+8.3%) and Metz (+6.6%) top the growth league for houses; these gains suggest stronger capital appreciation potential.
• Don’t assume past short-term growth repeats indefinitely. Evaluate supply constraints, planning rules, and major infrastructure projects.

Buy-to-let investors

• Match the property type to demand.