A royal square of 1686, a perfect circle of protected façades, and one of the quietest and rarest markets in central Paris.
The place des Victoires was designed by Jules Hardouin-Mansart and completed in 1686 in honour of Louis XIV. It is one of the five royal squares of Paris, and the only circular one. Its ordered façades, whose proportions were imposed from the outset, form an ensemble of a regularity nothing has disturbed — the fashion houses occupying the ground floors have had to comply with it.
The square straddles the 1st and the 2nd: even numbers fall within the 2nd, in the administrative quarter of Mail. In property terms this is the top of the arrondissement's market. The median for the 2nd is €11,128/sqm according to DVF DGFIP data, with a P90 at €15,000/sqm: apartments giving onto the circle belong to that upper part, and transactions are rare — a handful each year.
METROREALTY has followed this market for 22 years. Our office, at 18 rue Molière, is a six-minute walk from the square. Where so little comes to market, knowing the owners matters more than watching the listings.
The circle itself: ordered façades and the equestrian statue. Apartments on the principal floors, with a balcony over the square, are among the rarest properties in central Paris. A few transactions a year, often without any public listing.
The old street of the silk merchants, running east. Seventeenth-century private mansions, cobbled courtyards, carriage doors. Much sought after for large apartments with character; prices approach those of the square itself.
Alongside the basilica of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. Older buildings, little through traffic, an almost provincial atmosphere two minutes from the circle. One of the quietest addresses in the 2nd.
It leaves the square towards the Sentier. The first stretch, on the Victoires side, enjoys the address in full; prices ease as you move north-east. A good compromise for those who want the quarter without the budget of the square.
A street of a few dozen metres joining the square to the basilica. Tiny, almost confidential, with small older buildings. Property here is rare and often passes within the same circle.
The southern edge of the area. Buildings on the even-numbered side are in the 2nd and enjoy the Victoires address while staying a notch below the prices of the square. Upper floors often have an open outlook.
Around the place des Victoires the market is, above all, a market of scarcity. There are few buildings, the lots are large, and owners stay for a long time: a handful of apartments change hands each year on the circle itself. Value rests on three things — the principal floor, the balcony over the square, and the integrity of the original proportions, which the subdivisions of the 1970s sometimes damaged. A reconfigured apartment does not command the price of one that stayed whole.
Go further — by address and by quarter: prices street by street on data.metrorealty.fr.
« Ten apartments a year do not change hands on the place des Victoires. That is the whole point. »METROREALTY — real estate agency, 18 rue Molière, Paris 1st
Where so little comes to market, waiting for a listing means seeing nothing. METROREALTY maintains a standing relationship with the buildings of the circle and the streets around it, and presents clients with properties before they reach the market. We also check what the floor plans do not say: old subdivisions, easements, constraints attached to protected façades.
View our propertiesA property of this standing does not sell by being published everywhere: it sells by being shown to fifteen people who know what they are looking at. We value on the real transactions of the area — rare, and therefore to be read with care — and we present the property confidentially to a French and international clientele built over twenty-two years.
Value my propertyThe median for the 2nd arrondissement is €11,128/sqm according to DVF DGFIP data, with a top of the market (P90) at €15,000/sqm. Apartments giving onto the square belong to that upper part. Because transactions are so rare here, an average price per square metre means little: each property is judged on its own terms.
Both. The square straddles the boundary: odd numbers fall within the 1st arrondissement, even numbers within the 2nd, in the administrative quarter of Mail. Rue Étienne-Marcel and rue Croix-des-Petits-Champs mark the line.
Rue du Mail for large apartments with character and private mansions, rue des Petits-Pères for quiet, rue Vide-Gousset for confidentiality. Rue d'Aboukir offers a good compromise for those who want the quarter without the budget of the circle.
Yes. The ordering laid down by Hardouin-Mansart in 1686 still applies: the façades onto the square are protected, and works affecting them require specific authorisation. It is a point to examine before any renovation involving windows, joinery or railings.
Yes, remarkably so for so central an area. The ground floors are occupied by fashion houses that close in the evening, and there is neither the night life nor the visitor traffic of Montorgueil, two hundred metres away. Rue des Petits-Pères and rue Vide-Gousset are among the quietest streets in the 2nd.
Yes, and it is the defining feature of the area: the buildings offer large floor areas, often on the principal floors, with original proportions. Beware, however, of lots reconfigured in the 1970s, whose value is not the same — it is one of the first things we check.
Yes. Our office is at 18 rue Molière, a six-minute walk from the square. In a market where so few properties come up, knowing the owners matters more than watching the listings — which is what we have done for 22 years.
Whether you are looking for a principal floor on the circle or selling a large apartment on rue du Mail, METROREALTY works this market confidentially. An agent replies within 24 hours.
Going further — real estate in Paris 2nd