The average price per m² in Saint-Gingolph is 4 133 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 13 transactions are recorded each year.
Atmospheric illustration of Saint-Gingolph, a border village on the southern shore of Lake Geneva.
In Saint-Gingolph, the benchmark price stands at 4 133 €/m² for an apartment. The village, wedged between Lake Geneva and the slopes of the Chablais, has very little land: the buildings press together along the road and the harbour, and flats account there for nearly two dwellings in three. These values come from DVF data, the transactions actually registered before notaries (the French record of notarised property sales). With fewer than a thousand inhabitants and a small annual volume, the average depends closely on the lake view, the aspect and the condition of the 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 Saint-Gingolph market rests on a simple equation: broad demand, carried by the Chablais, the cross-border workers of the Valais and holiday buyers, against an almost fixed supply. The village has no land reserve, its building fabric is constrained by the lake on one side and the slope on the other, and the population of 903 inhabitants has nonetheless grown by 7,5 per cent since 2017. In that configuration, the value of a property depends less on the general market than on its own features, the view first of all.
The main element likely to shift the lines is the project to reopen the Tonkin railway line between Évian-les-Bains and Saint-Gingolph. A restored rail service would change the position of the village in the network of the southern shore of Lake Geneva and its accessibility from Thonon as well as from the Valais. Until then, local conditions remain dictated by the Swiss franc, by cross-border employment and by the structural scarcity of properties put up for sale each year.
The village holds a high position in its area: its prices exceed those of Thonon-les-Bains and Thollon-les-Mémises, and remain below those of Évian-les-Bains.
Saint-Gingolph is a single village crossed by a border. The Morge, a torrent running down from the Chablais towards Lake Geneva, separates the French municipality from its Valais twin, in Switzerland. The treaty of Thonon, signed in 1569, fixed that watercourse as the boundary between Savoy and the Valais, a line that has stayed in place ever since. The two halves of the village share the same main street, the same parish church and the same daily life, but belong to two states. That duality is the defining fact of the municipality, in every period.
The local economy long rested on the lake. Fishing, boating and the carriage of goods on Lake Geneva supported the village families, while the forest on the slope supplied timber for shipbuilding. On 23 July 1944, during the Second World War, the French part of the village was burned by the German occupying troops in reprisal, which explains the share of rebuilt fabric in the present town. Part of the population had then found refuge on the other side of the Morge, on Swiss territory.
The municipality had 903 inhabitants in 2023, up 7,5 per cent since 2017. Activity has shifted towards trade and tourism: most of the shops are concentrated on the French side, along the main street, and summer attendance relies on the Lake Geneva cruises, the beaches and the ViaRhôna cycle route. The railway line known as the Tonkin, which linked Évian-les-Bains to Saint-Gingolph, is out of service, but a reopening project is under study and is a leading local issue.
According to INSEE, the French national statistics office, Saint-Gingolph has 903 inhabitants, with 65,6 per cent main residences and 21,4 per cent second homes: the market therefore mixes permanent inhabitants and holiday buyers, in proportions rare on the French shore of Lake Geneva. The structure of the stock is unusual for a village, with 63,1 per cent apartments against 35,2 per cent houses, a direct consequence of the cramped site. The owner-occupier rate is 52,0 per cent. Buyers are households of the Chablais, cross-border workers employed in the Valais, and second-home buyers drawn by the lake.
The benchmark price stands at 4 133 €/m² for an apartment. That figure comes from DVF data, the sales actually signed before notaries. It is an average on a very narrow market: an apartment with a view over Lake Geneva and an older dwelling facing the slope depart strongly from that base, the lake view being here the leading value factor.
The Morge separates the French municipality from the Swiss municipality of the same name, in the Valais, along a boundary fixed by the treaty of Thonon of 1569. The two entities form a single village in practice, but come under two legal systems, two tax systems and two distinct property markets. A buyer must therefore check precisely on which side of the Morge the property being viewed stands.
Yes, noticeably. The immediate closeness of the Valais makes the municipality attractive to people employed in Switzerland, whose incomes are set against French prices. That demand supports values on a very small stock. It partly explains why Saint-Gingolph sits at the level of the lakeside municipalities close to Évian, despite a far smaller size and level of facilities.
According to INSEE, second and occasional homes account for 21,4 per cent of the stock, against 65,6 per cent main residences. The village is therefore not a holiday resort in the strict sense, but the holiday share is clearly higher than in the inland municipalities of the Chablais. That twofold clientele limits vacancy and supports prices.
The site is very constrained: between the lake, the Morge and the wooded slopes of the Chablais, buildable land is almost non-existent, and planning rules are strict. Torrential flooding and ground movement risks affect some areas, as does flooding in the immediate surroundings of the lake. The local urban plan and the applicable easements should be consulted at the town hall before any project.
This analysis is published by Immover, an independent observatory founded by Antony Barbier. Data sourced from official sources (DVF, INSEE, Notaries of France).