Best Areas to Buy in Martinique:
Les Trois-Îlets, Sainte-Anne, Le Diamant and the Atlantic Coast

Martinique's property market has a clear geography: a premium south, a more affordable Atlantic coast, a capital that is cheaper than people expect and a north dominated by a volcano. Prices are in euros, and the sale is handled by a French notary, as covered in the relocation and cost articles in this series.

The south: the benchmark market

A luxury agency describes the peninsula of Les Trois-Îlets, Le Diamant, Sainte-Luce, Le Marin and Sainte-Anne as the heart of Martinique's high-end market.

Les Trois-Îlets is on the south shore of the Bay of Fort-de-France, about twenty minutes by ferry from the capital. Anse Mitan and Pointe du Bout are the most sought-after parts, with villas, beachfront apartments and marinas. A Martinique agency's site gives a median house price of about €3,891 per square metre across the commune. Detached villas with sea views here and in Sainte-Anne can reach €500,000 to €1 million or more, according to a property-finding agency. A finance firm quotes €6,000 to €10,000 per square metre for the best villas at Pointe-du-Bout and claims seasonal yields above 8%, a marketing claim from a firm with an interest.

Sainte-Anne and Le Diamant are the white-sand beach communes of the south. The same agency site gives median house prices of about €4,256 and €4,231 per square metre, with Sainte-Anne up 20% over a year and Le Diamant down 8.9%. One-year changes in a small commune can rest on only a few sales, so do not read too much into either number.

Le Marin is the yachting centre, described by an agency as home to one of the Caribbean's largest marinas, and it posts the highest median at about €4,506 per square metre, up 30.1% over a year.

Luxury villas in the south rent for €2,000 to €10,000 a week in season, according to a luxury agency, which is a claim to test against actual booking records.

The Atlantic coast

Le François and Le Robert offer a different product: Creole houses with gardens, some of them on stilts. A property-finding agency puts typical prices at €200,000 to €400,000, or €2,500 to €3,500 per square metre. The agency site's medians are about €3,250 for Le François and €2,700 for Le Robert. They suit buyers who want space and a more local atmosphere.

Fort-de-France and the north

Fort-de-France, the capital, is the island's economic and administrative centre, and its median house price is about €2,065 per square metre, far below the south. The adjacent suburb of Schoelcher has apartments at about €3,128 per square metre. Saint-Pierre, at the foot of Mount Pelée, has a median of about €1,630 per square metre, down 16.4% in a year, and carries the memory of the 1902 eruption.

Reading the numbers

Island-wide averages differ by source: about €3,235 per square metre on one portal, €3,240 for existing and €4,050 for new property on a finance firm's page, and a €3,912 mean with a €2,972 median on a notary calculator. The gap between that mean and median suggests a premium tail of expensive properties pulling the average up.

Choosing an area

Les Trois-Îlets suits buyers who want a resort setting close to Fort-de-France by ferry. Sainte-Anne and Le Diamant suit beach-first buyers. Le Marin suits boaters. Le François and Le Robert suit those who want more house for the money. Fort-de-France suits people who want city services. Ask for completed sales, and ask a notary for the full cost of a specific purchase before comparing areas.