The average price per m² in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is 2 087 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 69 transactions are recorded each year.
Atmospheric illustration of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, sub-prefecture of the Maurienne valley, in Savoie.
The average apartment price in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne stands at 2 087 €/m², based on DVF transactions actually registered with notaries (DVF is the French record of notarised property sales). This average covers a varied stock: buildings of the old centre grouped around the cathedral, more recent developments on the valley floor, apartments in the districts near the station and town houses on the slopes overlooking the Arc. Unlike the neighbouring ski resorts, the municipality is a valley town lived in year-round, driven by its status as a sub-prefecture and by industrial activity, which limits the share of second homes and weighs less on prices. The condition of the property, floor level, exposure to the sun, often reduced by the steep-sided relief, and proximity to the shops and the station make values vary.
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-Jean-de-Maurienne market remains active for a town of this size, with around seventy apartment sales recorded each year in the DVF data. This activity reflects its role as the service centre of the valley: as a sub-prefecture, its shops, hospital and schools fix a resident population, and transactions mainly concern homes occupied year-round rather than holiday properties. New supply remains limited by the relief of the Arc valley, which constrains building land and concentrates sales on resales and renovations within the existing fabric.
Several factors support this price level. Industrial employment, with aluminium production and the Opinel factory, administrative activity tied to its status as a sub-prefecture, and the major works of the Lyon-Turin rail link sustain residential demand in the valley. Conversely, the distance from the large urban centres, sometimes limited exposure to the sun and a less pressured population trend than on the coast or in the big cities cap price growth, and keep the municipality at a level well below that of the ski resorts of the neighbouring Maurienne and Tarentaise.
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne sits at a level close to Modane, another town of the Maurienne valley. It remains well below the winter sports resorts of the area, such as Saint François Longchamp or Les Belleville, whose prices belong to a tourist market unrelated to that of a town centre lived in year-round.
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne has been the capital of the Maurienne valley since the 6th century. Tradition holds that Saint Thecla brought back from Alexandria relics of Saint John the Baptist, three fingers of the hand said to have baptised Christ. These relics gave the town its name and its coat of arms, a blessing hand, and made it a religious centre whose influence spread across the whole Arc valley.
The municipality is closely tied to the origins of the House of Savoy. Humbert of the White Hands, count of Maurienne around the year 1000, is regarded as the founder of the dynasty from which the House of Savoy descended. The Saint-Jean-Baptiste cathedral, with its cloister, its crypt and its bell tower, remains the main witness to this past and one of the major heritage ensembles of the town.
More recent history is one of work and industry. In 1890, Joseph Opinel developed in the hamlet of Gévoudaz, on the edge of the town, the folding knife that bears his name, still made and exhibited on site today. From 1907, an electrolysis plant made the municipality one of the cradles of French aluminium production, an activity continued today by the Trimet group. Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is finally the French entry point of the Lyon-Turin rail link, whose cross-border base tunnel reaches the Susa valley, in Italy.
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne has 7 524 inhabitants according to the INSEE census. Unlike the ski resorts around it, the municipality is a valley town lived in year-round: as a sub-prefecture, it concentrates public services, shops, a hospital and secondary schools for the whole Maurienne, and its market rests first on long-term residents. Buyers are split between local households, employees of industry and services, first-time buyers and working people employed in the valley. The share of second homes is markedly lower than in the neighbouring mountain municipalities. The apartments of the centre and the town houses close to the shops and the station account for most demand.
The average apartment price in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is 2 087 €/m², based on DVF transactions actually completed before notaries. This average covers gaps depending on the area, floor level, exposure to the sun in a steep-sided valley, the condition of the property and its energy performance. A renovated apartment in the centre and an older home needing work do not trade at the same level.
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne is a valley town lived in year-round, not a winter sports resort. Its market rests on residents, on people working in industry and public services, with a small share of second homes. The nearby ski resorts, driven by tourist demand and holiday homes, show far higher price levels, unrelated to the market of a town centre.
The town is served by Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne station, on the Maurienne rail route, and by the A43 motorway linking Chambéry and Lyon to Italy through the Fréjus. A sub-prefecture at the heart of the Arc valley, it is also the French entry point of the Lyon-Turin rail project. This accessibility supports the municipality's role as a service centre for the whole Maurienne.
The benchmark price of 2 087 €/m² relates to apartments, which form a large part of supply in the town centre. Town houses and detached houses, more sought after by families, are concentrated in the residential districts and on the slopes, where land remains constrained by the relief of the valley. They generally trade above the level of apartments. The choice depends mainly on the budget and on how close you want to be to the shops and the station.
The old centre, around the cathedral and the shopping streets, brings together the oldest buildings and homes close to services. The valley-floor districts and the surroundings of the station mix more recent developments and town houses. The slopes overlooking the Arc offer more detached housing and better exposure to the sun, a criterion that counts in a steep-sided valley. The value of a property depends first on its condition, its floor level and that exposure.
This analysis is published by Immover, an independent observatory founded by Antony Barbier. Data sourced from official sources (DVF, INSEE, Notaries of France).