For a long time, the port city was considered criminal, dirty and loud. Now, however, it is becoming a place of longing for many Europeans. Which neighborhoods are popular? Where is it worth buying real estate?
Paris. The TGV from the north goes through a tunnel. Then a huge Marseille sign appears on a hill, with the port facilities on the other side. The view falls on the high-rise buildings of the suburbs and on the new Marseille: the Euroméditerranée business center. The city on the Mediterranean has many facets - and is currently more in demand than ever.
Marseille can be compared to Berlin in the 1990s, Barcelona in 2000 and New York in the 1980s. New things are constantly being created in the city, the cultural scene is booming, concept stores are opening. Last but not least, Marseille has a multicultural restaurant culture: classic bistros, creative chefs and restaurants from a wide variety of nationalities. For lovers of good food, the city is a dream.
The Handelsblatt reveals in which districts a real estate investment could be worthwhile:
For a long time, France's second largest city with its 886,040 inhabitants was considered a stronghold of the drug trade; According to figures from the Insee statistics office, one in four residents lives below the poverty line. But the city has changed. The initial spark for this was in 2013, when it was allowed to present itself as European Capital of Culture. This period saw the opening of the Mucem Museum, which attracts 1.4 million tourists every year - and the renovation of the Vieux Port, the old port.
More and more Parisians are moving to Marseille. The TGV only takes around three hours. According to figures from the Chamber of Notaries, prices for apartments have risen by 39 percent within ten years and by ten percent in the past five years. For houses the increase was 28 or five percent.
Tourists are also discovering the city's fascination: According to the online portal Booking.com, Marseille was the most popular city in France among French people in July 2026 - ahead of Paris and Nice. The hotels were at 95 percent capacity.
Real estate prices have been rising, especially since the pandemic. When working from home became the norm, many capital city residents moved their center of life to the south. Not everyone returned later. Although qualified jobs are still in short supply in Marseille, more and more working Parisians are moving to the city.
This is not least due to the prices for houses and apartments, which, despite the upward trend in recent years, are still well below the Paris level of 9,600 euros at 3,800 euros per square meter.
Rents are not even half as high as in Paris. However, there are drastic differences in property prices: they range from 2,000 to 10,000 euros, while sought-after properties are quoted at more than 12,000 euros.
“From 2020 onwards, more and more Parisians between the ages of 35 and 50 came to Marseille,” says broker Cyril Roffé from the Café de l'Immo agency: The city not only attracts residents of the French metropolis who are annoyed by the bad weather, high prices and congested traffic routes: “Young Germans and English people between the ages of 30 and 40 are also inquiring,” emphasizes Roffé.
Anyone looking for a property has to know their way around: “The differences are big,” says the agent. There is the poor north and the tourist center around the port. But there is also the trendy 5th arrondissement, the rich districts in the 6th, 7th and 8th arrondissement and the family-friendly 9th and 12th arrondissement.
If you walk from the harbor towards the sea to the city beach Plage des Catalans, you cross Endoume, a district popular with Parisians and foreigners. Here, bistros are lined up with organic shops. It's not fancy yet, but "bobo". The term, which is derived from “bourgeois-bohémien”, describes the wealthy and at the same time alternative educated elite in France.
The center of the district is the Café de l’Abbaye with a view of the harbor. In the evening around 6 p.m. there is no free space there. Beer and wine are still cheap, but guests' clothing is more expensive.
If you walk south through Endoume to the Bompard district, you should take good shoes with you. It goes steeply uphill, there are old houses in tiny streets, many of them with a view of the sea. Particularly tranquil is Malmousque, a seaside tip of Marseille with lofts, fishing huts and steep bays. In the summer you can hardly find a place here - except on the neighbor's towel.
According to the real estate portal Meilleurs Agents, the average price in the 7th arrondissement is more than 6,000 euros per square meter. Anyone looking for a house near the sea can easily pay 9,000 euros per square meter or a million euros. Things get even more exclusive in Roucas-Blanc. From Plage du Prophète you can see luxury villas with prices of up to 12,000 euros per square meter. Footballers from OM and Olympique de Marseille also settle in the paradise of the rich.
Further south in the 8th arrondissement, the average price is around 5,300 euros per square meter. The real estate portfolio consists primarily of apartment blocks. The city center is far away, but the beach and calanques are closer. There are bars like Le Cabanon de Paulette - a joint overlooking the Bay of Marseille - that serves fried seafood.
Commuting in Marseille is difficult: the public transport network is poorly developed. There are only two metro lines and three tram lines, and many buses are overcrowded. That's why the Le Vélo rental bike is doing well. All bikes are e-bikes, which is what you need on the steep streets. In recent years, cycle paths have emerged surprisingly quickly.
Because the 7th and 8th arrondissement have become expensive, many people are moving to the 6th arrondissement around the renovated Place Castellane. Things are urban and middle-class here; many French restaurants have settled here. There are hardly any houses, more apartments. The average property price is 4200 euros per square meter, for houses it is 6200 euros.
If you want to live centrally and have less money, move to Camas. The area is just five minutes by tram east of the city center and is popular with students and young families. There are parties every evening in the central Jean-Jaurès square, and the numerous bars are cheap. The price per square meter is 3700 euros.
A sign of the neighborhood's gentrification is the trendy restaurant Le Parpaing qui Flotte, which offers small dishes at Parisian prices. Anyone listening at the next table will often hear Parisians raving about their life between home office and the beach.
The district around Cours Julien, not far from the train station, is also popular, with graffiti, second-hand shops and numerous restaurant terraces such as the legendary Pizzeria Tripletta. The district can be reached in three minutes by metro from Saint-Charles train station. Prices per square meter are around 3,600 euros, houses cost around 5,000 euros per square meter. There is hardly anyone older than 35 in the bars around Cours Julien.
Families can still find affordable houses, especially in two districts of Marseille. In Saint-Barnabé in the east, which can be reached from Saint-Charles in around ten minutes by subway, there are houses for around 800,000 euros. The average price per square meter in the area is 4,800 euros. The main street with its many shops has a village feel.
An alternative is Mazargues in the south, which can be reached in 30 minutes from Saint-Charles by metro and buses. Here the average price per square meter is just under 4,000 euros.
The few luxury properties are mainly found in the 7th and 8th arrondissement. There are even fewer international customers in Marseille than in Saint-Tropez or Nice. Nevertheless, brokers see an upswing, especially in the luxury segment. The Kretz family from the Netflix series “L’Agence” is already offering properties with sea views. Sotheby's set up shop in Marseille in 2021, and Barnes in 2018 - both are signs of increased interest from wealthy customers.
Blanche Bonnefoy from the Maison B agency specializes in luxury properties. "There aren't many in Marseille, but prices are rising. Before the pandemic, the highest sales price was three million euros, today it's five million," she says.
Luxury is still cheap in Marseille. She continues to see great potential for growth in the sought-after neighborhoods in the 7th and 8th arrondissement. “There may be price reductions in the future in the neighborhoods in the 5th and 6th arrondissement, where prices have risen sharply after the pandemic.” In the 9th and 12th arrondissement, where prices did not rise so sharply, they are stable.
It remains to be seen how business with the Americans develops. More and more US tourists have been coming for some time now. The trend is likely to accelerate next year. United Airlines, part of the Star Alliance, announced daily direct flights from New York to Marseille for the summer season starting in June 2027. With tourists, interest in real estate in the city often increases.
In Marseille there are some neighborhoods you should avoid: These include the 13th to 16th arrondissement in the north, which are scenes of drug wars. Caution is also advised when buying a property in the city center. Many houses are dilapidated and there have been several collapses with fatalities. The area behind Saint-Charles train station is still considered dangerous, but this does not necessarily deter people with alternative lifestyles. The left-wing cultural center Friche la Belle de Mai was built there, and students are moving to the area because of the low prices.
Marseille introduced stricter Airbnb rules this year: primary residences can only be rented out for 90 days a year. New holiday apartments in second homes can hardly be created anymore. Anyone who rents out an Airbnb apartment as a second home must also offer an equivalent property for classic rental.
“This led to many Parisians selling their second homes,” says Blanche Bonnefoy. In addition, there are high property taxes in France, which are particularly high on the Mediterranean.
The protests against Airbnb and rising rents in general show the dark side of the boom: many people who have always lived in the city feel marginalized. In the calanques, the rocky coves stretching from Marseille to Cassis, there are signs saying “Go out Parisien”. “Before, the Parisians laughed at us arrogantly, today they want our lifestyle,” it says elsewhere.
The building structure in the city also leaves a lot to be desired. Many houses, especially in the center, are in danger of collapsing. The risk increases with increasing drought and heavier rainfall. Large parts of the city are built on clay soils that are shrinking and swelling. The north and east are particularly at risk, the south with its limestone cliffs less so.
