The average price per m² in Longwy is 1 969 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 73 transactions are recorded each year.
Atmospheric illustration of Longwy, on the Belgian and Luxembourg border, in the north of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
The average price of apartments in Longwy stands at 1 969 €/m², based on DVF data, the French notarised sales database, covering transactions actually registered with notaries. This average covers a varied housing stock: older buildings in the lower town along the Chiers, workers' houses inherited from the steelmaking era, homes in the upper town inside the Vauban ramparts, and more recent developments driven by cross-border demand. The condition of the property, the floor, the availability of parking and closeness to the station or to the roads towards Luxembourg cause the value of a home to vary markedly.
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 Longwy market remains lively for a municipality of this size, with some seventy apartment sales recorded each year in DVF data. This turnover reflects the structure of the stock, two thirds apartments, and a relatively low share of owner-occupiers that feeds a rental market and regular resales. Supply consists mainly of older properties, from the fabric of the lower town to the workers' housing estates, with a few new developments driven by cross-border demand.
The main driver of the market is the immediate proximity of Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy concentrates numerous well-paid jobs, and its property prices, among the highest in Europe, push some working people to live on the French side. Longwy benefits directly from this border effect, amplified by its station connected to Luxembourg and by the roads towards Pétange and Esch. Conversely, the industrial legacy and a population with uneven incomes keep part of the stock at affordable levels, which explains a two-speed market between properties sought by cross-border workers and older homes needing renovation.
Longwy sits at an intermediate level for Meurthe-et-Moselle: more affordable than Nancy and its immediate surroundings, but well above municipalities in the south of the department such as Lunéville. Its distinctive feature is cross-border demand linked to Luxembourg, unmatched in the rest of the department.
Longwy is mentioned as early as the 7th century under the name Loncwich. The town took its present form after it became part of France: in the aftermath of the Treaty of Nijmegen (1678-1679), Louis XIV had the old medieval town razed and commissioned Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban to build a new stronghold on the plateau. Built from 1679, this hexagonal upper town with six bastions is one of the few towns the engineer built from scratch, adapted to the steep terrain at the edge of a cliff. Longwy-Haut was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List on 7 July 2008, as part of the network of major Vauban sites.
The town is also known for its fire arts. A faience factory was founded there in 1798; from the 1870s, Longwy developed a cloisonné enamel technique and a shade of blue that earned it a lasting reputation, still upheld today. The enamel museum, housed in the former military bakery, preserves this ceramic heritage. This craft long coexisted with a second identity, an industrial one.
Longwy was indeed one of the great steelmaking centres of Lorraine. A first blast furnace was lit in 1848, and activity grew considerably in the second half of the 19th century, making the Longwy basin a major centre of cast iron and steel production. The steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s led to the closure of the plants and a difficult economic conversion. The town has since turned largely to cross-border employment in neighbouring Luxembourg.
Longwy has 15 679 inhabitants (INSEE, the French statistics institute, 2023). According to INSEE, the municipality counts around 8 400 dwellings, of which nearly 89 % are main residences and only 1,6 % second homes: it is a market of permanent housing, with very little holiday use. Apartments account for around 64 % of the stock and houses 34 %, a legacy of the dense urban fabric and the workers' housing estates. Around 36 % of main residences are owner-occupied, a relatively low share that reflects an active rental market. Buyers are split between local households, first-time buyers and cross-border workers employed in Luxembourg, looking for housing costs well below those on the other side of the border.
The average price of apartments in Longwy is 1 969 €/m², based on DVF transactions actually completed with notaries. This average covers differences depending on the area, the condition of the property, the floor, the availability of parking and the distance to the station or to the roads towards Luxembourg. A renovated apartment close to cross-border transport does not trade at the same level as an older home in need of refreshing.
Longwy is the second cross-border urban area of Luxembourg after Thionville, and a large share of its working population crosses the border to work there. This demand supports the market: cross-border workers, better paid in Luxembourg, have a purchasing capacity above the local average, while very high Luxembourg prices make the French side considerably more affordable. This knock-on effect is felt particularly on properties close to the station and to the roads towards the Grand Duchy.
Longwy station is served by TER Grand Est regional trains to Metz, Nancy, Reims and Charleville-Mézières, as well as by CFL trains to Luxembourg. By car, the A30 leads towards the Belgian border and the A31 connects to Thionville and then Metz, while the RN52 reaches Pétange, in Luxembourg, via Longlaville. This position at the crossroads of the French, Belgian and Luxembourg borders strongly shapes commuting patterns.
It is above all a town of permanent residence: according to INSEE, second homes account for only 1,6 % of the stock. The municipality nonetheless has a remarkable heritage, with the Vauban fortifications of Longwy-Haut listed by UNESCO since 2008 and its enamel tradition, but these assets mainly feed day-trip tourism, not a second-home market. Most transactions involve households settling year-round.
The market is mostly made up of apartments: according to INSEE, around 64 % of dwellings are apartments, and the reference price of 1 969 €/m² applies to this segment. Houses, often workers' homes inherited from the steelmaking period, make up a third of the stock and appeal to families looking for space. The choice depends mainly on budget, area and the desired closeness to the station and the cross-border roads.
This analysis is published by Immover, an independent observatory founded by Antony Barbier. Data sourced from official sources (DVF, INSEE, Notaries of France).