The liveliest pedestrian street in central Paris. Food shops, markets, terraces — and the most sought-after micro-market in the 2nd arrondissement.
Rue Montorgueil runs from rue Réaumur down to Les Halles, straddling the administrative quarters of Mail and Bonne-Nouvelle. It was the road taken by the oyster merchants coming up from Dieppe — the name means « proud hill ». Pedestrianised since 1990 and lined with fishmongers, cheesemongers, bakeries and terraces, it has kept a retail fabric few Paris streets can claim.
In property terms, Montorgueil trades in the upper range of the 2nd. The median for the arrondissement is €11,128/sqm according to DVF DGFIP data, within a range running from €7,904 to €15,000/sqm. Addresses on the street and its side streets sit well above that median: expect around €12,000/sqm, with peaks on high floors and in renovated buildings. The building stock is old — narrow seventeenth- and eighteenth-century houses, nineteenth-century façades along Réaumur — and floor areas are often modest.
METROREALTY has followed this micro-market for 22 years. Our office, at 18 rue Molière, is a seven-minute walk from the lower end of rue Montorgueil. We know the buildings one by one — those that have had their façades restored, those still waiting for the lift they voted for, those whose ground-floor shops weigh on the service charges.
The spine of the quarter, pedestrian along its whole length. Long-established food shops, terraces full from morning to night. Demand is constant and sales are quick. High floors facing the courtyard, away from the noise, are the most sought-after properties here.
Parallel to Montorgueil and noticeably quieter. Narrow seventeenth- and eighteenth-century buildings, discreet cafés, a village feel. Much favoured for pieds-à-terre: the life of the quarter is thirty metres away rather than under the windows.
One of the tallest covered arcades in Paris, eleven metres under its glass roof. Designers' studios, galleries, craftspeople. The few homes that open onto it are properties without equivalent — and change hands privately, often without ever being advertised.
The northern edge of the quarter, wide and busy. Late nineteenth-century investment buildings, good proportions, lifts. Prices are more accessible than in the pedestrian core, in exchange for street noise — apartments facing the courtyard close the gap.
Where the quarter meets the Sentier, under the Egyptian portico of 1798. An area changing fast since digital companies moved in. Former commercial floors are being converted into homes: this is the part to watch for a long-horizon purchase.
The street that separates the 1st from the 2nd. Fashion retailers, mixed-use buildings. Properties on the even-numbered side, in the 2nd, enjoy the Montorgueil address while staying a notch below the prices of the pedestrian street.
Montorgueil is a market of small floor areas: studios and one-bedroom flats dominate, in old buildings often without a lift. That is what explains both the liquidity — rental demand never stops — and the premium per square metre. Family two- and three-bedroom flats are rare and sell quickly, particularly with a lift and a courtyard aspect. For investors, the DRIHL reference rent for the 2nd is €29.7/sqm per month, with an authorised ceiling of €35.76/sqm.
Go further — by address and by quarter: prices street by street on data.metrorealty.fr.
« On rue Montorgueil you are not buying floor area. You are buying the fact that everything is downstairs. »METROREALTY — real estate agency, 18 rue Molière, Paris 1st
The quarter trades quickly and dearly: arriving with financing already arranged changes everything. METROREALTY knows the buildings street by street and the points to check before committing — service charges inflated by ground-floor shops, a lift voted for but never installed, façade works to come. Tailored searches, off-market included.
View our propertiesSelling in Montorgueil means knowing what the premium is paid for: the floor, the quiet of a courtyard aspect, the lift. We value your property on the real transactions in your own street, not on an arrondissement average, and we draw on a register of buyers — young professionals, pied-à-terre purchasers, investors — built over twenty-two years.
Value my propertyThe median price in the 2nd arrondissement is €11,128/sqm according to DVF DGFIP data, within a range of €7,904 to €15,000/sqm. The Montorgueil area sits in the upper part of that range, around €12,000/sqm, with peaks on high floors, in buildings whose façades have been restored, and for apartments facing the courtyard.
Rue Montorgueil itself for the life and the liquidity, rue Tiquetonne for quiet thirty metres from that life, the passage du Grand-Cerf for properties with no equivalent. Rue Réaumur offers better proportions at a lower price, in exchange for street noise.
The pedestrian street is busy until late, particularly from Thursday to Saturday. The difference between an apartment facing the street and one facing the courtyard is considerable, and it is priced in: at the same floor, quiet represents a real difference in value. The side streets, rue Tiquetonne first among them, are markedly calmer.
Often not. The stock is old and narrow, and many stairwells cannot take an installation. It is the first thing to check: a fourth floor without a lift does not sell at the same price, and does not address the same buyers. Where a lift has been voted for but not installed, the timetable and the cost deserve close attention.
Rental demand never stops here: central location, shops, transport. The DRIHL median reference rent for the 2nd is €29.7/sqm per month, with an authorised ceiling of €35.76/sqm and a lower bound of €20.86/sqm. Small units re-let quickly. In exchange, the entry price is high: the yield is built over time, not in the first year.
Rue Montorgueil is in the 2nd arrondissement, straddling the administrative quarters of Mail and Bonne-Nouvelle. Its southern end meets rue Étienne-Marcel, which marks the boundary with the 1st — hence the frequent confusion with the Les Halles quarter, directly opposite.
Yes. Our office is at 18 rue Molière, a seven-minute walk from the lower end of rue Montorgueil. We follow the buildings and the listings of the quarter continuously, including properties that are never advertised.
Whether you are looking for a pied-à-terre on rue Tiquetonne or selling a courtyard-facing apartment on rue Montorgueil, METROREALTY knows the quarter street by street. An agent replies within 24 hours.
Going further — real estate in Paris 2nd