Cannes is a city on the French Riviera, in the Alpes-Maritimes, known worldwide for its International Film Festival and its Palais des Festivals. Long a fishing village clustered around the hill of Le Suquet, the town was transformed from the nineteenth century into a seaside resort, driven by an aristocratic European clientele. From that history it inherited a seafront lined with palace hotels, hills covered with villas and an international renown that still shapes its property market.
The city is organised around three main areas. The seafront, with the Boulevard de la Croisette, its palace hotels and the Palais des Festivals, concentrates the highest prices. The old town of Le Suquet, gathered around the church of Notre-Dame-de-l'Espérance and the old port, overlooks the bay and the Forville market. To the west, La Bocca, around its station and the Cannes-Mandelieu airport, forms a more working-class, residential area, while the eastern hills, such as La Californie, line up prestige villas. The Lérins islands close the bay offshore.
This diversity produces a highly segmented property market. Cannes attracts local demand, but also a strong national and international clientele looking for a second home or a seasonal rental investment. Prices, among the highest on the Riviera outside Monaco and Cap-Ferrat, vary sharply with proximity to the sea, the view and the standing of the building. Demand remains sustained, driven by the city's tourist appeal and its global renown.
