The average price per m² in Bernex is 3 752 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 21 transactions are recorded each year.
Atmospheric illustration of Bernex, at the foot of the Dent d'Oche.
In Bernex, the average price stands at 3 752 €/m² for apartments. This average reflects a stock dominated by leisure housing tied to the Dent d'Oche resort and the La Beunaz plateau, where second homes sit alongside chalets and the permanent housing of the chief town. The gaps are real depending on altitude, aspect and proximity to the lifts. This figure comes from DVF data (the French record of notarised property sales), which lists the transactions actually registered with notaries, and not from advertised asking prices. It gives a market benchmark, not the exact value of your property.
Prices from the DVF file (Demandes de valeurs foncières, published by the DGFiP), transactions actually recorded at the notary at municipality level. Cross-referenced with the Notaires de France - INSEE indices. Learn more about our methodology.
The Bernex market is driven by its dual identity as a farming village and a mid-mountain resort. The closeness of the Geneva metropolitan area, a little over an hour away, feeds solid cross-border demand, while the Évian and Lake Geneva area brings a holiday clientele. The scarcity of building land on slopes subject to mountain constraints limits new supply, which keeps up the pressure on prices. Properties with an open view over the lake or the Dent d'Oche remain the most sought after.
Dependence on tourism is both a strength and a factor of sensitivity. An irregular snow season or a slowdown in visitor numbers can weigh on the leisure-home segment, more volatile than the permanent residential market. Conversely, the lasting appeal of the Chablais, the quality of the four-season activities and the relative affordability of prices compared with the large neighbouring resorts support the municipality. For a seller, the valuation depends heavily on the precise location and the condition of the property, two criteria that the municipal average does not reflect.
Bernex sits in the mid-range of the Lake Geneva Chablais: above the most affordable lakeside towns, but clearly below the large inland resorts. The comparison with its neighbours sheds light on this positioning.
Bernex belongs to the Chablais, in the Pays de Gavot, on the heights overlooking Lake Geneva about ten kilometres south-east of Évian-les-Bains. The parish is old: it appears in texts between 1078 and 1120 in the Latin form ecclesia S. Ursi de Brenatis, placed under the patronage of Saint Ours of Aosta. The village formed at the foot of the Dent d'Oche, a peak that rises to 2 222 metres on the municipal territory. Its inhabitants, the Bernolands, long lived from mountain farming and a settlement scattered across hamlets, a form that still marks the municipality today.
The Saint-Ours church, rebuilt in 1848 in the Sardinian neoclassical style then widespread in Savoy, replaced a much older building dating back to the medieval period. This work was part of the wave of religious reconstruction carried out under the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, before the annexation of Savoy to France in 1860. Around the chief town, the housing long remained agricultural, made of farms and barns scattered on the slopes. This fragmented organisation, inherited from the pastoral mountain economy, explains why Bernex does not present a dense town centre but a series of built-up clusters linked by the road that climbs towards the mountain pastures.
The turn of the 20th century was that of tourism. Bernex developed a winter and summer sports resort based on the Dent d'Oche area and the La Beunaz sector, with around sixty kilometres of routes open to skiing as well as hiking and mountain biking. This activity, today the leading economic engine alongside farming and craft trades, drove the construction of chalets and leisure residences. It shaped a housing stock in which holiday homes weigh heavily, without erasing the residential role of the chief town or the farms still present on the heights.
Bernex has 1 472 inhabitants according to INSEE, a population rising since the start of the 2010s. The local market stands out for the weight of leisure housing: close to six dwellings in ten are second or occasional homes, a share well above the national average and typical of resort municipalities. The main residences, around six hundred, are mostly owner-occupied. Buyers are split between Savoyard families looking to settle year-round and buyers coming from Geneva, the Lyon region or further afield, in search of a mountain pied-à-terre. This twofold demand supports prices despite the modest size of the municipality.
The average price recorded in Bernex is 3 752 €/m² for an apartment, according to DVF data drawn from sales registered with notaries. This average hides significant gaps depending on altitude, the view over the lake or the mountains, the condition of the property and its proximity to the resort. A renovated chalet close to the slopes and an older apartment in the chief town are not at the same level.
Bernex lies about ten kilometres south-east of Évian-les-Bains, to which it is linked by the departmental road that climbs the Pays de Gavot. Geneva and its airport can be reached in a little over an hour by car, which explains the presence of cross-border buyers. There is no station in the municipality: the nearest rail service is that of Évian, on the lakeside line.
Yes. Close to 59 % of Bernex dwellings are second or occasional homes, according to INSEE, a proportion typical of resort municipalities. This holiday demand, coming from the Geneva metropolitan area and elsewhere, coexists with a more limited residential market for permanent inhabitants. It supports prices but makes the year-round supply tighter, especially for young local households.
The Bernex stock mixes chalets, renovated farms and small resort blocks. Detached houses and chalets dominate the built landscape and generally change hands above apartments, because of their scarcity and the land. Apartments, more numerous near the leisure facilities, offer a more accessible entry ticket and suit a pied-à-terre. The choice depends above all on the intended use, year-round residence or seasonal stay.
As in many tourist municipalities, a second-home buyer must anticipate the taxe foncière (local property tax) and the taxe d'habitation on second homes (the residence tax still due for this type of property). Bernex also applies a taxe de séjour (visitor tax) on accommodation rented to visitors. These amounts vary with the rental value of the property and the rates voted locally: it is wise to check them with the town hall before buying.
This analysis is published by Immover, an independent observatory founded by Antony Barbier. Data sourced from official sources (DVF, INSEE, Notaries of France).