Buying in Grasse

Grasse sectors

Grasse’s market varies by sector. The figures below are DVF medians of recorded sales (houses sold for €1M or more, 2021–2025 pooled), drawn inside each sector’s cadastral or INSEE boundary, not asking prices. Below 5 sales we publish no figure.

Source: DVF (DGFiP), houses of 100 m² or more sold for €1M or more. For town medians by year, see recently-sold DVF data for Grasse.

Market: DVF data

Every sale of a house of 100 m² or more for €1M or more in Grasse, as recorded in the DGFiP’s DVF database. This is the complete official record at that price level, not a sample. Period: 2021–2025.

For the year-by-year breakdown (2021–2025), the full methodology, surface and price filters, and DVF pricing caveats, see recently-sold DVF data for Grasse. For the sector-by-sector read, see Grasse property market in 2026.

International schools

For relocating families, schools within a short drive are a large part of the case for Grasse. The options below are either in Grasse or within a 15-minute drive.

• Institut Fénelon

  French Bac · BFI · In Grasse

  Institut Fénelon, a private Catholic school in Grasse, whose lycée offers the Baccalauréat Français International (BFI) in English.

• Campus International de Valbonne (CIV)

  International · BFI · French Bac · 20 min

  Public international school 20 minutes away, with the BFI (which replaced the OIB from 2022) in six sections. ~2,300 students from 65 nationalities on a 12-hectare campus.

• Lycée Amiral de Grasse

  French state lycée · Bac général and STMG · In Grasse

  Grasse’s public lycée on avenue Sainte-Lorette: Bac général, the STMG technology track, BTS courses and boarding.

• Mougins British International School

  British · IGCSE · A-Levels · 20 min

  Founded in 1964 as Mougins School. Pupils aged 3 to 18 from more than 55 nationalities follow the English National Curriculum.

Access and golf

Buying in France

The process

1. Offer and compromis de vente. An accepted offer leads to a compromis (preliminary contract) signed before a notaire, with conditional clauses (financing, planning).
2. Cooling-off period. 10 calendar days for the buyer, with no penalty and no reason required.
3. Acte authentique. Final signing 2–3 months later, transfer of title, handover of keys.

Fees and taxes

• Notaire fees: about 7% of the price on resale property in the Alpes-Maritimes (4.50% transfer tax kept, plus emoluments and disbursements), ~2–3% on new-build.
• Taxe foncière + taxe d’habitation. Taxe d’habitation has been abolished on primary residences. It still applies to second homes.
• Capital gains on resale: primary-residence exemption applies. For other property, taper relief over 22 years (income tax) and 30 years (social charges). EU/EEA non-residents face the same scale.
• IFI (real-estate wealth tax): due above €1.3M of net taxable real-estate wealth, progressive scale. Non-residents are taxed only on French-located property.

Structuring: SCI vs direct purchase

An SCI (Société Civile Immobilière) is a structure often preferred by non-resident buyers to ease succession, ring-fence the property from personal estate, and organise family ownership. It carries minimal accounting and a tax choice (transparent or corporate). For a one-off second-home purchase with no succession plan, direct ownership is often simpler. The decision is made with your notaire and, ideally, your home-country tax adviser, because the foreign-tax consequences are sometimes decisive.

Financing

French banks lend to non-residents on slightly tighter terms than to residents: 25–40% deposit typical, 20–25 year maximum term, international income documentation. Specialised non-resident brokers (Cafpi, Vousfinancer, Maël) shorten the timeline. Foreign-currency mortgages (GBP, USD) have been uncommon since 2015. Most files close in euros, which also simplifies the compromis and the acte.

Useful terms

For full definitions (compromis, acte, viager, indivision, SCI, IFI, etc.), see our bilingual glossary (50 terms).

Frequently asked questions