Page 1 - Navigating Paris Real Estate Can Feel Like an Olympic Sport 7.22.24

Navigating Paris Real Estate Can Feel Like an

Olympic Sport. Here’s How to Win Gold.

Ahead of the Games, a breakdown of the city’s most desirable places to live

By J.S. Marcus | Photographs by Fred Lahache for WSJ
July 22, 2024

PARIS—Paris has long been a byword for luxurious living. The traditional components of the upscale home, from
parquet floors to elaborate moldings, have their origins here. Yet settling down in just the right address in this low-
rise, high-density city may be the greatest luxury of all.

Tradition reigns supreme in Paris real estate, where certain conditions seem set in stone—the western half of the
city, on either side of the Seine, has long been more expensive than the east. But in the fashion world’s capital,
parts of the housing market are also subject to shifting fads. In the trendy, hilly northeast, a roving cool factor can
send prices in this year’s hip neighborhood rising, while last year’s might seem like a sudden bargain.

This week, with the opening of the Olympic Games and the eyes of the world turned toward Paris, The Wall Street
Journal looks at the most expensive and desirable areas in the City of Light.

The Most Expensive Arrondissement: the 6th
Known for historic architecture, elegant apartment houses and bohemian street cred, the 6th Arrondissement is
Paris’s answer to Manhattan’s West Village. Like its New York counterpart, the 6th’s starving-artist days are long
behind it. But the charm that first wooed notable residents like Gertrude Stein and Jean-Paul Sartre is still largely
intact, attracting high-minded tourists and deep-pocketed homeowners who can afford its once-edgy, now serene
atmosphere.

Le Breton George V Notaires, a Paris notary with an international clientele, says the 6th consistently holds the title
of most expensive arrondissement among Paris’s 20 administrative districts, and 2023 was no exception. Last year,
average home prices reached $1,428 a square foot—almost 30% higher than the Paris average of $1,100 a square
foot.

According to Meilleurs Agents, the Paris real estate appraisal company, the 6th is also home to three of the city’s
five most expensive streets. Rue de Furstemberg, a secluded loop between Boulevard Saint-Germain and the
Seine, comes in on top, with average prices of $2,454 a square foot as of March 2024.

For more than two decades, Kyle Branum, a 51-year-old attorney, and Kimberly Branum, a 60-year-old retired CEO,
have been regular visitors to Paris, opting for apartment rentals and ultimately an ownership interest in an
apartment in the city’s 7th Arrondissement, a sedate Left Bank district known for its discreet atmosphere and
plutocratic residents.

“The 7th was the only place we stayed,” says Kimberly, “but we spent most of our time in the 6th.”

In 2022, inspired by the strength of the dollar, the Branums decided to fulfill a longstanding dream of buying in
Paris. Working with Paris Property Group, they opted for a 1,465-square-foot, three-bedroom in a building dating to
the 17th century on a side street in the 6th Arrondissement. They paid $2.7 million for the unit and then spent just
over $1 million on the renovation, working with Franco-American visual artist Monte Laster, who also does
interiors.