Nouvelle-Aquitaine · Department 24
Dordogne real estate.
Stone manors, river valleys, vineyards, and the most established American community outside Paris. Where the Périgord story still ends with keys handed over on a sun-warmed limestone doorstep.
What we source
Stone manors, vineyard estates and town apartments, sourced and renovated across the Perigord.
Why the Dordogne
A region of stone, water, and slow decisions.
Dordogne real estate covers some of the most sought-after rural property in France. The department sits in the south-west, in the historic Périgord, and pairs the second largest land area in mainland France with one of its lowest population densities and the highest concentration of listed château in Europe. For an international buyer, that means space, privacy and genuine character.
The Dordogne river is the spine of the department. It rises in the Massif Central and runs west through Sarlat, Souillac and Bergerac before joining the Garonne near Bordeaux. Most heritage property sits within a ten-mile band on either side of that river, where limestone cliffs, oak forests and walnut groves create the Périgord most foreign buyers have in mind.
For decades, American, British, Dutch and Belgian buyers have chosen to buy property in the Dordogne: a stone house with a view, near a river, within a 90-minute drive of an airport. The English-speaking community now runs into the tens of thousands, supported by bilingual notaires, English-speaking artisans, and local agents who close half their files in dollars.
The market is unhurried and the inventory is deep. Houses for sale in the Dordogne range from honey-coloured bastides and working vineyards to fortified manors and modest townhouses, often for the price of a New York studio. Sales close slowly, which works in a buyer’s favour: time to negotiate, inspect and plan a renovation without the pressure of Paris or Provence.
Renovation is also more approachable than the headlines suggest. Most Dordogne property is 18th or 19th century limestone, which means thick walls, oak beams and stone slab floors that are forgiving to work on. The real risk is not the structure, it is choosing the right trades and handling unfamiliar French paperwork, and both are exactly what a project lead manages for you.
One of the last regions in France where character still costs less per square metre than Manhattan.
Your point of contact
One person runs your Dordogne file.
From the first email to the day the keys change hands, you work with one project lead who speaks English, knows the Perigord notaries, and coordinates the search, the offer and the renovation. One contact, from the first call to long after the keys.
Remy PampinCo-founder, Montclair and Ynspir
Start a conversation2024 market data · source: DVF (data.gouv.fr)
What you actually pay, by the square metre.
Aggregated from 8,861 verified property sales registered in 2024 with the French land registry. Outliers below €200 and above €20,000 per sqm have been excluded to give a true median for a buyer’s purchasing decision.
Median house price
€1,744/m²
7,402 houses sold · range €1,223 to €2,372 per m²
Median apartment price
€2,000/m²
1,459 apartments sold · range €1,437 to €4,181 per m²
Total transactions
8,861
Houses, apartments and mixed use in 2024
Total market value
€1794M
Across the whole department of the Dordogne in 2024
Where to buy in the Dordogne
Four towns we know house by house.
The Dordogne is large. The four towns below are the ones our buyers ask about most often, and the ones we currently have active mandates in. Each one is a different bet, on price, on charm, on rental yield, and on the speed at which you want to close.
South Périgord
Sarlat-la-Canéda
Honey-stone medieval bastide, World Heritage candidate, a Saturday market that has not closed since 1453. The most photographed old town in the south-west and the highest median price in our shortlist.
Inventory inside the walled centre is thin and the renovation rules are strict, the upside is that any restored property holds its value through every cycle. Outside the bastide, the surrounding hamlets offer 19th-century longères and stone farmhouses at half the price, with the same Dordogne valley views.
Median €/m²
€2,292
House sales · 2024
139
Central Périgord
Périgueux
The administrative capital. Five-domed Saint-Front cathedral, Roman ruins, a TGV connection to Bordeaux and Paris, and the deepest stock of bourgeois townhouses in the department. The smart pick if you want a city base.
We see two profiles here: buyers who want a walkable city pied-à-terre to anchor a slower country search nearby, and rental investors who target the student market around the Faculté. The price-to-rent ratio in the Saint-Front quarter is currently the strongest in the entire Périgord.
Median €/m²
€1,890
House sales · 2024
182
South-west Périgord
Bergerac
Wine country anchor, regional airport with direct UK and Dutch routes, the largest English-speaking community of the department. Bergerac is where most of our buyers land for the first visit, and where many end up signing.
The town itself is divided between a historic timber-framed centre on the old port and a much newer ring of cul-de-sacs and supermarkets outside. We almost always source inside the old town for residential, and in the surrounding vineyard hamlets (Monbazillac, Pécharmant) for buyers who want a producing estate.
Median €/m²
€1,744
House sales · 2024
388
Perched bastide
Domme
One of the highest median price levels in the entire department. A cliff-top bastide above the Dordogne river, with views that justify the premium. Small inventory, low turnover, only a few transactions a year, but each one matters.
Domme is the kind of pick where you wait for the right property and then close fast when it appears. We keep an active waitlist for Domme and the neighbouring villages of La Roque-Gageac and Beynac, and reach out the moment a serious lead surfaces, often before it hits the public listings.
Median €/m²
€2,577
House sales · 2024
29
The pull
Four reasons our American clients keep choosing it.
01
The stone houses are real.
Most properties on the market are 18th or 19th century limestone, not new builds with a stone veneer. Walls are 60 cm thick. Floors are oak. Roofs are handmade tile. The renovation budget is what scares people, the building itself does not. Many of the structures you’ll visit have been standing for two hundred years and will stand for two hundred more with reasonable maintenance.
02
Wine country, real prices.
Bergerac, Monbazillac, Pécharmant. Producing vineyards with stone manors trade at a fraction of Bordeaux or Burgundy. Many of our clients buy a working domaine in their first transaction and learn the rest from the previous owner. The local négociants are used to absentee owners and contracts can be structured for harvest, distribution and tax planning before you sign.
03
An expat infrastructure that already exists.
English-speaking notaries, doctors, builders, tax advisors and an active club of buyers who came before you. Eymet alone is sometimes called the most English town in France. Practical things, like opening a bank account, finding a roofer, or getting a French driving licence, are easier here than in any French region except central Paris.
04
The price has not run yet.
Median price per square metre across the department is below €1,800 for a house, roughly one-third of the Riviera, one-fifth of Paris, and on par with rural upstate New York. The Dordogne is one of the last regions in France where you still buy character for the price of square metres. Most macro forecasts point to slow, steady appreciation, not the speculative spikes that punish second-home buyers elsewhere.
How it works
How we run your Dordogne real estate project.
One English-speaking team takes your Dordogne real estate project from the first search to the keys, and keeps running it long after. Montclair handles the advisory and the buying, Ynspir handles the renovation, and you deal with one person throughout.
Find
On-the-ground sourcing across the Perigord, including properties that never reach the public portals.
Buy
From the offer to the notaire to the keys, handled remotely and explained in plain English.
Renovate
Architect-led renovation by Ynspir, from the first plans to the final styling of your stone house.
Manage
Rental management, accounting and French tax, with us as your single point of contact.
What renovation looks like with us
Recent work by our studio.
A Dordogne stone house is rarely a turnkey home. Most need a sensitive renovation, and that is where Ynspir, the architecture studio we work with across France, comes in. Below are three recent projects that show the level of finish you can expect, from period stone interiors to contemporary, light-filled spaces.
L’Olivine, a Mediterranean residence
A 320 m2 stone residence reworked top to bottom, blending southern light with natural materials and a calm, layered palette.
MarseilleA full apartment renovation
An 88 m2 apartment rebuilt around curved oak joinery and warm tones, proof of what a careful gut renovation can deliver.
ToulonA colour-driven family home
A 1930s house brought back to life with colour, vintage furniture and a relaxed coastal character on the Var coast.
Every Dordogne purchase we handle can be paired with a full renovation by the same team. The people who find your stone house also plan, cost and run the works, so you arrive to a home that is ready to live in rather than a building site. Whether you want a faithful restoration of a Perigord longere or a contemporary reinvention behind an old stone facade, the studio adapts to the house and to how you want to live in it.
On the ground
Where the Dordogne actually is.
The Dordogne (department 24) sits in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, in the south-west of France, the historic Perigord. Its main towns are Perigueux, Bergerac, Sarlat-la-Caneda and Domme, all within reach of Bergerac and Bordeaux airports.
We source and manage property across the whole department and the neighbouring Lot and Lot-et-Garonne, from the vineyards around Bergerac to the perched bastides above the Dordogne river.
Good to know
Dordogne real estate, the questions buyers ask.
Can American buyers purchase property in the Dordogne?
Yes. There is no restriction on foreigners buying property in France. The process is the same as for a French resident, handled by a notaire, and the whole purchase can be run remotely with an English-speaking team coordinating every step.
How much does property cost in the Dordogne?
Based on 2024 land-registry data, the median house price is around 1,744 euros per square metre, roughly one third of the French Riviera and one fifth of Paris. Stone houses that need renovation often start well below that, which is why the Dordogne remains one of the best-value real estate markets in France.
What are the additional costs when buying?
Beyond the price, budget for notaire fees and transfer taxes, which run at roughly seven to eight percent of the price on older properties, plus our sourcing fee. We set out every cost in writing before you commit to anything.
Is the Dordogne a good place to invest?
It rewards patient capital rather than speculation. Prices tend to appreciate slowly and steadily, and rental demand is strong around Bergerac and Sarlat, where the English-speaking community and the tourist season support both long and short lets.
Can I renovate a Dordogne stone house?
Yes. Most properties are solid 18th or 19th century limestone, which is forgiving to work on. Our partner studio Ynspir runs the renovation end to end, from the first plans to the final styling, so you arrive to a finished home rather than a building site.
Do I need to speak French or live in France to buy?
No. The entire process, from the search to the notaire to the keys, is handled in English and can be done remotely, with one point of contact throughout.
Start your Dordogne real estate search with us.
Tell us your budget, your ideal commune, and what your second life in France looks like. Within 48 hours, you will have a first reply from the project lead who would run your file, in English, from our office in Strasbourg.