To work out where to buy around Lake Annecy, Le Figaro Immobilier, the property desk of one of France's national dailies, scored the quality of life in 35 communes across 56 indicators, in a survey published on 28 August 2026. Pascal Cecchetti, a consultant with BARNES Annecy, is quoted several times in it. He talks about what makes Annecy special, what the finest houses on the western shore cost, and how rare a lake view is in town.
Beyond the ranking, the paper sets out prices on the Lake Annecy property market commune by commune, using averages recorded by MeilleursAgents in early August 2026. From the villas of Veyrier-du-Lac to the houses of Sevrier, the price gap between the two shores is striking.
Le Figaro's ranking: 35 Lake Annecy communes scored on 56 indicators
Le Figaro kept the communes with more than 1,000 residents within ten kilometres of the lake, then left out two that were too far away, more than twenty-five minutes' drive on average. The 56 indicators fall into ten themes, among them environment, tourism, leisure, shops, transport and property. Each one gets a mark out of 20, as at school, and the ten marks are then combined, some counting for more than others, into a final score. In other words, the ranking picks out the places where life is good, not the cheapest or the most expensive places to buy.
"What makes Annecy is that everything is close by." The piece opens with these words from Pascal Cecchetti. In Annecy you can go on foot or by bike from the lakeside to the mountain trails, from the town-centre shops to the water sports, and both Switzerland and Italy are less than an hour's drive away.
The eastern shore in the lead, carried by Veyrier-du-Lac
Veyrier-du-Lac tops the overall ranking. Together with Menthon-Saint-Bernard and Talloires-Montmin, it lines the eastern shore of the lake. It was once a village of winegrowers. When phylloxera, a vine disease, wiped out the vineyards, well-off families from the area turned its hamlets into holiday homes. Hotels and renowned restaurants followed, such as the Auberge de l'Éridan, opened in 1992 by Marc Veyrat and taken over in 2010 by the chef Yoann Conte. That history is what makes the eastern shore such a sought-after place today, to live in as much as to holiday in.
Its great asset, everyone agrees, is still the sun. Facing west, the eastern shore keeps it until late in the evening, looking out over the lake and the mountains. That setting draws many owners who live there for only part of the year. Second homes make up one home in four in Veyrier-du-Lac, slightly more than one in four in Menthon-Saint-Bernard and nearly four in ten in Talloires-Montmin. With Annecy, they are the lake's four communes classified as official tourist resorts. Our profiles of Veyrier-du-Lac and Menthon-Saint-Bernard tell you what daily life is like in both villages.
Over the years, houses for sale have grown rare there and their prices have soared. In early August 2026, the average house there cost close to 12,000 euros per square metre, according to MeilleursAgents, against 9,950 euros in Menthon-Saint-Bernard and 8,400 euros in Talloires-Montmin. Those prices, on a par with parts of Paris according to the paper, explain why Veyrier-du-Lac, first overall, scores lowest of all on property.
The western shore on the podium, with Sevrier in second place
On the western shore, the mountains leave more room by the water, and towns have been able to spread, especially between Sevrier and Duingt. That growth has brought more shops, one of the strengths of Sevrier, second overall and fourth for shops. In Sevrier and Saint-Jorioz, people live there all year round more often than on the eastern shore, and families and working people settle there readily. If you are looking for a main home, you will find all the everyday services you need there, a short hop from Annecy.
This shore also has a fine view of the lake and the mountains, for less money. From Sevrier you look across to La Tournette, one of the peaks on the opposite side. The residents the paper spoke to mention that view as often as those on the other shore talk about the sun. In early August, a square metre cost 7,279 euros on average in Sevrier and 6,485 euros in Saint-Jorioz. Further south, in Duingt and Doussard, two less built-up communes, it fell to 6,132 and 5,010 euros. In Doussard, a square metre therefore cost less than half what it did in Veyrier-du-Lac.
"On the western shore, most high-end properties sell for between one and two million, but they are liveable as they stand," Pascal Cecchetti explains. By contrast, he mentions a house BARNES recently sold in Veyrier-du-Lac for 1.9 million euros that needed everything redoing. In practice, with a budget of one to two million euros, you can buy a high-end house on the western shore and move straight in. On the eastern shore, a similar sum may buy a house that needs a complete renovation.
Annecy, fifth overall, and its golden triangle
Annecy comes fifth. The town owes that place to its many shops, its transport, its healthcare and its appeal to tourists, on which it ranks second. On paper, prices there look reasonable, at 5,217 euros per square metre for a house on average in August 2026. But that figure hides big differences. Since 2017, Annecy has merged with five neighbouring communes, Annecy-le-Vieux, Cran-Gevrier, Meythet, Pringy and Seynod. The average therefore mixes lakeside quarters with others further away, less sought after by buyers who want to see the water. If you have a particular quarter in mind, this average will tell you little.
"In Annecy, a lake view is harder to come by, and the properties will often be apartments or small houses," Pascal Cecchetti concedes. The few addresses close to the lake are all the more prized. That is the case in the area nicknamed the "golden triangle", between avenue d'Albigny, Bonlieu and the Galeries Lafayette, where quality apartments sell for between 7,000 and 9,000 euros per square metre, according to the figures we gave the paper.
Finally, the paper points out that since June 2025, Grand Annecy has limited furnished lets to tourists, with quotas in certain quarters, so that year-round residents can still find somewhere to live. If you are thinking of letting your property by the week, everything will therefore depend on the quarter.
A house approaches 12,000 euros per square metre in Veyrier-du-Lac, against 7,279 euros in Sevrier and 5,217 euros for houses for sale in Annecy. These averages, though, lump together a winegrower's house with a small terrace and a villa with a garden 150 metres from the lake. If you have your eye on an exceptional house, with a lake view or direct access to the water, the budget will naturally be higher.
Those gaps have an upside too, because on an equal budget they often point to a commune you had not considered, with the same quality of life by the lake. Our teams work on both shores as well as in Annecy, so do get in touch, or ask for a valuation if you already own here.
