The market
Where foreigners buy in France, and why Burgundy.
The Côte d'Azur, the Alps, the Dordogne, Paris: foreign buyers have their classics. Burgundy is less talked about abroad, and that is part of its charm.
Contents
Here is the map of foreign buying in France, then the case for Burgundy, without exaggeration: what it offers, and what it does not.
The classic destinations
- Provence and the Côte d'Azur: 3.8% of the sales of existing homes went to non-residents in 2022, against 5.2% in 2015 (Notaires de France study on non-resident buyers, published in 2024).
- The rural South-West and the centre: over 2007 to 2017, non-residents bought around one home in ten in the Creuse and the Dordogne, as in the Alpes-Maritimes (Journal de l'Agence, February 2019).
- The Alps, for skiing and the lakes, and Paris, where many foreign buyers already live in France.
What is changing
The 2025 barometer of one large network notes rising interest in Haute-Savoie, the Saône-et-Loire and rural areas in general. British buyers are looking further east than before, and Swiss buyers favour the departments within reach of the border (Capifrance barometer of 2025 sales, reported in July 2026). The Saône-et-Loire is the southern department of Burgundy, just south of the Côte de Beaune.
Why Burgundy
- The wine and the landscape: the Climats of the Burgundy vineyards, from Dijon to the south of Beaune, are a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2015.
- Access: Dijon is about an hour and a half from Paris by TGV, motorways lead to Lyon and Switzerland, and Beaune is forty minutes from Dijon by car.
- The houses: stone village houses with cellars, maisons de maître with walled gardens, winegrowers' houses around a courtyard, and châteaux.
- The prices: for the same space, a fraction of Paris or the Côte d'Azur. Check the real sales on my price pages (in French).
- Daily life: a city of human size with a university hospital, a university, a TGV station and the Cité internationale de la gastronomie et du vin, opened in 2022.
What Burgundy does not offer: the sea, and the winters are cold. A big stone house needs a heating budget.
Where in Burgundy
- Dijon, for city life: where to live in Dijon.
- The Côte de Nuits, from Marsannay to Nuits-Saint-Georges: homes on the Route des Grands Crus.
- Beaune and the Côte de Beaune: the Côte de Beaune villages.
- The Hautes-Côtes, quieter and greener: the Hautes-Côtes.
- The Auxois, with Semur-en-Auxois and the Burgundy canal, for more land: prices in Semur-en-Auxois (in French).
How I help
I am based in Dijon, at the GRAVELIN IMMO agency, 30 rue Bannelier, and I cover Dijon, the Côte de Nuits and the Beaune area. If you hesitate between several regions, I will tell you honestly whether mine fits your plan. I work in English and French every day. I also speak Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi fluently, Persian (Farsi) very well, and good Greek and Arabic.
Frequently asked questions
Which French regions do foreign buyers prefer?
Provence and the Côte d'Azur, the Alps, the rural South-West such as the Dordogne, Normandy, Brittany and Paris. Recent barometers also note growing interest in Haute-Savoie and the Saône-et-Loire.
Is Burgundy popular with foreign buyers?
It is less famous abroad than Provence, but it attracts wine lovers and many Swiss, Belgian and Parisian buyers, for its villages, its houses and its access to Paris.
How far is Dijon from Paris?
About an hour and a half by TGV from Paris Gare de Lyon.
Can I see real prices before visiting?
Yes. The prices actually paid at the notaire's are public in France, and I publish them commune by commune.