Buying a prestige apartment on the Croisette: what the Cannes film festival reveals about an exceptional market

Each year in May, Cannes is transformed. The banners of major studios adorn the facades of the grand palace hotels, the terraces of the Martinez and the Carlton become open-air meeting rooms, and for eleven days, decisions involving hundreds of millions of dollars in global cinema are made beneath the Côte d'Azur sun.

The Boulevard de la Croisette becomes the most photographed square kilometre in the world. This sudden concentration of power, money and renown is no passing phenomenon. Year after year, it confirms why an address on the Croisette cannot be negotiated in quite the same way as anywhere else.

Each year, more than 35,000 industry professionals converge on Cannes: directors, producers, distributors and sales agents, accompanied by over 4,000 accredited journalists from nearly 90 countries. For prospective buyers, these eleven days carry a clear signal: this boulevard of fewer than three kilometres, stretching from the Palais des Festivals to the Pointe Croisette, operates beyond the ordinary rules of the property market, whether local or Riviera-wide.

The Croisette: an address whose value was built alongside cinema history

The Croisette was not always as it appears today. It was in the 1950s, with the growing prominence of the Festival and the presence of great American stars such as Kirk Douglas, Grace Kelly and Cary Grant at the Carlton and Martinez, that the boulevard began to attract international demand. Grand residences with sea-facing terraces gradually took their place alongside the historic palace hotels, transforming this promenade into a boulevard where storied establishments and private residences share the same seafront.

What sets the Croisette apart from other Riviera waterfronts is precisely this density: the Carlton, the Martinez, the Majestic Barrière and the JW Marriott are not merely adjacent to private residences, they share their service providers, their amenities and their atmosphere. To live on the Croisette is to enjoy daily access to this ecosystem: high-level concierge services, gastronomic restaurants, private beaches, designer boutiques; all within walking distance.

The availability of properties is structurally constrained. The built environment is composed almost entirely of period buildings, with no land available for new construction along the boulevard. Transactions remain infrequent, driven by vendors who are generally under no pressure to sell. This scarcity of supply, set against sustained international demand, shapes the conditions of any negotiation.

What the festival reveals about International demand

During the Festiva,l the population of Cannes triples. Cinema professionals, luxury brands staging their events, and American or Korean studios negotiating distribution rights in apartments temporarily repurposed as offices: each of these actors pays a premium to be on the Croisette, or as close to it as possible. This intense, eleven-day demand illuminates the transaction market.

The Festival operates as a revealing lens because it makes visible what is structurally true throughout the year: the Croisette benefits from first-tier international demand that is largely independent of local economic cycles. American producers, Asian distributors, Middle Eastern families seeking a benchmark European base, Monaco residents wanting a Cannes address less than an hour from the Principality: the profiles vary, yet all share the same conviction regarding the long-term value of this address.

What can be observed during the Festival is also the use made of the best-positioned apartments. A sea-view terrace on the Croisette during the Festival is not merely a living space: it is a setting for representation, informal negotiation and networking. This dimension, absent from other Riviera markets, partly explains why the most discerning buyers are willing to pay a significant premium for the most ideally exposed properties.

Property prices on the Croisette

There is no single price point on the Croisette. Valuation depends on the floor, aspect, angle of view, the quality of the residence, and naturally the size of any terrace where one exists.

By way of indication, transaction data points to ranges of between €15,000 and €50,000 per square metre for prestige apartments on the boulevard. Exceptional properties on upper floors, with panoramic terraces and direct views over the Mediterranean, approach the higher end of this range or exceed it for the most outstanding configurations.

A considerable gap has opened with the rest of the Cannes market. The Croisette does not follow the general dynamics of the Cannes property market: it operates according to its own logic, driven by rare supply and international demand that shows no sign of abating.

On the Croisette itself, transactions are few and vendors are generally under no financial pressure to sell, which sustains valuations over time.

“The average price per square metre in Cannes stands at around €6,000 in 2025/early 2026, which illustrates the considerable gap between the general market and prestige properties on the Croisette.”

Jeremy Amar, specialist at Savills French Riviera & French Alps

The criteria that determine the value of an apartment on the Croisette

Not all apartments on the Croisette are equal, and the price differential between two properties of identical size can be considerable, depending on a number of precise criteria.

Floor level is the primary factor. From the fourth or fifth floor upwards, the view over the Mediterranean becomes unobstructed; higher still, it takes in the Îles de Lérins and, depending on orientation, the bay as far as the Estérel massif. International buyers, particularly those from Monaco or the Middle East, place a high premium on this panoramic outlook.

The terrace is the second criterion. An apartment with a twenty to thirty square metre sea-view terrace represents a far rarer configuration than it might initially appear on a boulevard where buildings are historic and facades are constrained. This scarcity justifies significant value premiums.

Finally, the quality of the residence and its common areas plays an increasingly important role. Residences offering a concierge service, a rooftop pool or direct access to a private beach represent the standard expected by the UHNW clientele that now dominates transactions in this segment.

Buyers on the Croisette: an International profile committed for the long term

The clientele with an interest in purchasing a prestige apartment on the Croisette falls into several well-established profiles.

Monaco residents constitute a significant share of buyers: less than an hour away by road, Cannes offers a cultural and events-driven way of life that the Principality does not always provide, and an acquisition on the Croisette represents for them a first-rate patrimonial investment.

Northern European, British and Swiss buyers have long been active in this segment, drawn by the robustness of euro-denominated valuations and the international legibility of the address.

Middle Eastern and Asian families represent a growing clientele, frequently in search of a European address combining prestige and long-term capital value.

American entrepreneurs who visit Cannes for the Film Festival or the Cannes Lions are also increasingly making the move to acquisition.

What unites these very different profiles is a long-term, patrimony-driven approach. Buying on the Croisette is not an opportunistic decision: it is a carefully considered arbitrage between quality of life, valuation resilience and the global standing of an address that the Festival renders unmissable year after year. A sea-view apartment on the Croisette is also an asset whose desirability is sustained and amplified by the most powerful media machine in the world of cinema.

Le Relais de la Reine: a concrete illustration of a highly active market

Savills Cannes is accompanying the sale of Le Relais de la Reine, an emblematic residence on the Croisette recently reimagined following a comprehensive, ultra-premium renovation. Within just a few months of completion, virtually all apartments had found buyers, reflecting the sustained appetite for this type of rare project.

This success is explained by the combination of one of the most prestigious addresses in Cannes, an exceptional standard of renovation and exclusive residential services, including round-the-clock security, an indoor pool and wellness and fitness facilities, fully meeting the expectations of an international clientele in search of a singular art de vivre at the heart of the Croisette.

With Le Relais de la Reine, Savills Cannes confirms its capacity to accompany and bring to market exceptional projects on one of the most sought-after addresses of the Croisette, drawing on an intimate knowledge of the luxury market, a targeted international network, and an approach grounded in discretion, precision and bespoke support.

The latest properties available on the Croisette

To learn more and consult the latest apartments currently available within the residence, we invite you to discover Le Relais de la Reine on Savills.

As every project is unique, Savills Cannes is also on hand to assist with the search for other exceptional properties on the Croisette. We invite you to explore our carefully curated selection of apartments for sale in Cannes, chosen for their location, their appointments and the quality of life they offer.