The average price per m² in Mougins is 5 070 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. For a house or villa, it is 8 352 €/m². About 159 transactions are recorded each year.
Atmospheric illustration of Mougins, a perched village in the Cannes hinterland in the Alpes-Maritimes.
The average price recorded in Mougins stands at 5 070 €/m². This average mainly reflects apartments, which account for 47,3 % of the housing stock according to INSEE (the French national statistics institute), dwellings that are largely recent since a wide majority of the built stock went up after 1970, often in small developments or in condominiums with a garden on the hillsides. The rest of the stock is made up of houses and villas, 52,3 % of dwellings, individual housing that pulls values upward: the average price recorded for houses and villas reaches 8 352 €/m², nearly two thirds above the level of apartments. The size of the plot, the view over the hills and proximity to the old village widen the gaps. The figures come from the DVF database (French notarised sales records), which lists the transactions actually registered with notaries.
House : 8 352 €/m²
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 Mougins market rests on its dual clientele. On one side, families of professionals drawn by the proximity of Sophia-Antipolis, by the international schools and by a preserved hillside setting, who aim for a house or a large apartment as a main residence. On the other, a wealth-focused clientele, French and foreign, which seeks the prestige villa and supports the top of the market. With 19,6 % second homes according to INSEE, part of the transactions concerns holiday properties, which keeps prices high for the Cannes hinterland.
New supply is limited. The terrain, the wooded areas and a protective planning policy restrict the land available for building, and the buildable land available in the old village is close to nil, which sustains the scarcity of the old built stock. Activity shifts largely to the renovation of villas and condominiums from the 1970s to the 1990s, whose energy performance now weighs in negotiations. The municipality's culinary and artistic renown, kept alive by the festivals and the galleries, also continues to feed outside demand that reaches beyond the local area.
Perched between Cannes and the hinterland, Mougins sits above neighbouring municipalities such as Le Cannet or Valbonne, but stays below the Cannes coastline. The gap comes from the weight of upmarket villas and the scarcity of hillside land.
The site was occupied as far back as Antiquity, under the name Muginum cited in the first century BCE, but the present village settled on its rocky outcrop from the 12th century, organised in concentric lanes behind its old fortifications. Set apart, on a hill planted with cypresses, the Notre-Dame-de-Vie chapel dates back to the 12th century and was rebuilt in 1655; listed as a historic monument since 1927, it remains one of the most visited sites in the Alpes-Maritimes. The old economy of the town was agricultural, geared towards the olive tree, the vine and the jasmine intended for the perfume industry of neighbouring Grasse.
Mougins owes part of its fame to artists. Pablo Picasso, who had discovered the village in 1936, bought the Notre-Dame-de-Vie farmhouse in 1961 and lived there until his death in 1973. Around him and before him, Jean Cocteau, Paul Éluard, Winston Churchill, Christian Dior and Édith Piaf stayed in the area. This presence durably established the image of a village of art, kept alive today by the galleries and museums of old Mougins.
The municipality's second signature is culinary. In 1969, the chef Roger Vergé set up at the Moulin de Mougins, which earned its first Michelin star as early as 1970, its second in 1972 and its third in 1974; Alain Ducasse made his debut there as a commis. Vergé founded a cooking school there and popularised his sunshine cuisine. Since 2006, the Étoiles de Mougins festival has carried on this legacy, bringing chefs together each year in the lanes of the village.
According to INSEE, Mougins has 19 782 inhabitants for 11 843 dwellings, of which 8 890 are main residences, or 75,1 % of the stock; second homes account for 19,6 %. The stock is split almost evenly between houses, 52,3 %, and apartments, 47,3 %, but with very different price levels. Among households in a main residence, 62,3 % are owners and 33,8 % tenants. Two buyer profiles cross paths: families of professionals who work at the nearby Sophia-Antipolis technology park and look for a quiet house near the schools, and a wealthier clientele, French and foreign, seeking a prestige villa with grounds and a view.
The average recorded price is 5 070 €/m², calculated from the transactions registered with notaries and published in the DVF database. It is a municipal average, which mainly covers apartments. For houses and villas, the average recorded price climbs to 8 352 €/m², a gap of roughly two thirds that reflects the weight of upmarket individual housing. Location, plot size and the view explain most of the differences. A reliable valuation draws on comparable sales, not on the average alone.
The municipality is organised around several very different areas. The perched, pedestrian old village concentrates the galleries, the restaurants and a rare and sought-after old built fabric. Below it stretch more recent residential districts, made up of condominiums with gardens and villa subdivisions. On the hills, around Notre-Dame-de-Vie, are the large properties with grounds, often gated and wooded. These types of housing do not sell at the same level, with upmarket individual housing pulling the average upward.
Yes. The municipality lies a few kilometres from Cannes, up on the heights, and borders the Sophia-Antipolis technology park, the leading hub for service-sector and scientific employment on the Côte d'Azur. The A8 motorway and the Cannes-Grasse link road serve the area, placing Nice airport about thirty minutes away. This position, between the Cannes coastline and the hinterland, explains a good share of the demand: buyers look for the quiet of the hills while staying close to the employment centres and the international schools of the area.
Supply exists but stays expensive. Houses and villas make up 52,3 % of dwellings according to INSEE, individual housing that is more present than on the neighbouring coast, but whose average price reaches 8 352 €/m², well above the level of apartments. Properties range from the Provençal villa on the hills to the large estates with a pool and grounds around Notre-Dame-de-Vie. Sale references are heterogeneous: valuing a villa depends above all on its plot, its view and its condition, more than on the municipal average.
Several points deserve to be anticipated. The municipality is subject to a local urban plan that governs building heights, footprints and the appearance of construction, particularly around the old village and the wooded areas of the hills. The area is exposed to the risk of forest fires and to ground movements on some slopes, which entails surveys and sometimes brush-clearing obligations. Finally, the high share of second homes brings exposure to a specific local tax that is best checked 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).