Foreign Buyers & Crypto: The New Dynamics of the French Luxury Real Estate Market
Pierre Papin
10/22/2025
(08/22/2025)
🧭 In summary: key takeaways
The luxury real estate market in France has shown remarkable resilience, driven by a wealthy international clientele.
These HNWI profiles are looking for turnkey properties and prefer destinations that are attractive, safe, well-connected, and politically stable.
Some wish to purchase real estate with cryptocurrency, but face a strict regulatory framework (FATCA, AML/CFT, TRACFIN). The lack of qualified intermediaries able to process such transactions often slows down (or even blocks) such deals.
Solutions like Legibloq make it possible to secure and supervise crypto real estate purchases, fully compliant with French law.
Real estate agents, notaries and property sellers have every reason to adapt to these new buyer profiles, or risk missing the turn.
A bit of context...
2023 and 2024 have been trying years for the French property market: the end of the post-Covid boom, soaring interest rates, inflationary pressures, political uncertainty… Whether in new builds or resale, the overall market slowed significantly.
Yet, the high-end segment has held up relatively well in France, mainly thanks to foreign buyers.
But this growing enthusiasm also comes with complexity. These international profiles, often under media or tax scrutiny, bring multiple challenges: American extraterritoriality (FATCA), stringent compliance requirements (AML/CFT), and increasingly, the use of crypto assets as part of their wealth strategy.
Against this backdrop, French luxury real estate stands at a crossroads: how to capture this foreign demand – sometimes involving crypto transactions – without neglecting strict regulatory requirements?
High-end and luxury real estate driven by foreign clients in France
A market under pressure: high-end supply is becoming scarce, prices are soaring
While the traditional real estate market struggles to regain momentum, the luxury segment in France is showing a very different dynamic. In Paris, top Alps resorts, French Riviera or Arcachon among others, demand for high-value properties remains strong, especially in the €2 million+ range.
This pressure is explained by a structurally limited supply: administrative restrictions, scarcity of buildable land and a strong tendency to preserve existing heritage. As a result, prices are rising, quality properties sell quickly, and room for negotiation is shrinking.
Prestige real estate specialists, such as Emile Garcin or Knight Frank, confirm this trend in their 2024 reports.
France therefore remains one of Europe’s most desirable prime markets, despite a challenging global macroeconomic context.
Why notaries and real estate agents are not always prepared for complex buyers (foreign, crypto)
The rise of an international clientele with diverse profiles – often wealthy, sometimes “exotic” in terms of taxation or source of funds – is shaking up the practices of local real estate professionals. Notaries, agents, and intermediaries are increasingly confronted with a dilemma: securing a prestigious sale while staying within the limits of an extremely strict regulatory framework.
French AML/CFT rules require heightened vigilance, particularly for transactions involving non-residents. Some professionals, poorly trained or inadequately equipped, may be tempted to cut corners in order not to lose a sale : a choice that can have serious consequences.
In May 2025, 13 luxury real estate agencies in southeastern France were targeted by an AMF and CGCCRF investigation, facing fines of up to €5 million for failing to report suspicious transactions involving Russian clients under sanctions (source: Le Figaro Immobilier).
When dealing with American buyers (subject to FATCA), Middle Eastern clients, or crypto-asset holders, the challenge is clear: adapt, train, and rely on robust technical and legal solutions. In luxury real estate, a lack of compliance can cost far more than a missed commission.
In this context, new tools are emerging to secure such transactions without compromising compliance: crypto escrow solutions, enhanced KYC processes, and cross-border legal support.
An international context favorable to investment in Europe
The return of foreign buyers to the French property market – particularly on the Côte d’Azur – can also be explained by a series of favorable economic and geopolitical factors.
Let’s take the example of American buyers:
Firstly, the political and economical climate in the United States is pushing many HNWIs to diversify their wealth internationally. Chronic political instability, polarizing effects of Donald Trump’s return to the presidency for some of his opponents or on national economy and persistent social tensions in major American cities have led certain profiles to consider a form of “wealth exodus” – temporary or permanent – towards Europe.
Secondly, the strength of the dollar against the euro has created an exceptional window of opportunity for American investors. Since 2009, the EUR/USD parity has often worked in favor of dollar buyers, enabling them to acquire European assets with an implicit discount of 10 to 15% depending on the period.
Since 2009, U$D has clearly outperformed €uro
This gap also mirrors a deeper trend: American wealth has grown far faster than Europe’s over the past fifteen years (Econofact). As a result, buying property in France now feels significantly cheaper for U.S. investors than it did a decade ago.
This international momentum has already translated into record sales, often to new buyer profiles.
In 2024, the Kretz family – made famous by the TV show L’Agence – finalized the sale of a prestigious 500 m² apartment that once belonged to Monaco’s princely family, for over €30 million. The buyer? An American entrepreneur from the crypto ecosystem, drawn to the French Riviera and eager to establish a high-end second residence there (source: Capital).
This case is not isolated. The growing presence of crypto-linked profiles – investors, Web3 founders, or family offices with exposure to digital assets – marks a major turning point for the luxury real estate market. Yet, while these buyers are solvent and determined, they don’t often fit the traditional compliance frameworks of banks or notaries.
Crypto and non-residents: an underestimated opportunity for French real estate?
Faced with the growing number of international profiles – whether linked to the crypto ecosystem or not – how can such atypical buyers be managed without turning the process into a regulatory headache ?
Let’s stay with the example of American buyers.
The specificity of American buyers
Investing in French real estate as an American is anything but straightforward. Between obligations under FATCA, the extraterritorial reach of U.S. tax law, and the heightened scrutiny of European institutions regarding AML/CFT compliance, professionals must exercise extreme caution.
Notaries, real estate agents, and banks are often faced with a double challenge: understanding the client’s regulatory constraints while also complying with an increasingly strict French framework.
And in this context, every detail matters : any lack of clarity or shortcut can lead to heavy sanctions, or on the contrary, the outright blocking of the transaction.
Americans’ appetite for crypto
According to the Henley & Partners ”Crypto Wealth Report 2023”, over 20% of American millionaires now hold crypto-assets, a figure growing rapidly among those under 50 years old.
This massive adoption is particularly evident among Web3 entrepreneurs, early Bitcoin adopters, and investors who participated in token fundraising (ICOs, IDOs, etc.). For these profiles, paying in crypto is as much a wealth management reflex as it is a choice for discretion and efficiency.
Yet, very few luxury real estate professionals in France are truly able to handle this type of demand. The result: growing frustration among solvent buyers, who are poorly understood by traditional intermediaries.
In France in 2025, there are still very few notaries or real estate agents familiar with crypto.
A real challenge: how to sell a property in crypto to a non-resident ?
When faced with a foreign buyer wanting to pay for a property in Bitcoin, Ethereum, or stablecoins such as USDC or USDT, some professionals attempt to improvise solutions, often at the risk of stepping outside the legal framework and complicating the transaction further. Others choose to rely on specialized partners, capable of securing the deal from both a legal and compliance standpoint.
This is precisely the approach offered by Legibloq, a French solution that enables real estate transactions in cryptocurrency while fully complying with French regulations: escrow and fund traceability, notary partners, automated conversion, and AML/CFT compliance.
With such a gateway, crypto buyers (even non-residents) can finally access luxury real estate without facing an administrative obstacle course, while reassuring notaries, agents, and sellers.
This observation does not apply only to American buyers. In many emerging or unstable countries, crypto assets have become a practical alternative to fragile banking systems or devalued currencies. For these investors, often seeking to safeguard their wealth abroad, crypto is not a speculative gimmick but a genuine tool of stability.
It would be unfortunate to close the door on them arbitrarily when they are trying to invest legally in the real economy. Providing a clear, secure, and compliant framework – like the one offered by Legibloq – is a concrete and inclusive response to this new reality in the French real estate market.
Key takeaways: strong demand, but a need for guidance
The renewed interest of foreign buyers in France confirms the international reach of the country’s luxury real estate market. More than just a short-term trend, this is a profound movement fueled by lasting geopolitical, monetary, and wealth management factors.
But this opportunity will only be seized by professionals able to adapt to these new buyer profiles. Understanding foreign tax frameworks, mastering compliance requirements (FATCA, AML/CFT), and integrating crypto-assets into property purchase processes are no longer optional: they are now essential.
In this context, a solution like Legibloq plays an indispensable role: it streamlines transactions while ensuring strict compliance with French regulations.
Secure, simplify, reassure: the new key to attracting a mobile and demanding clientele.
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