Article 1 of 5 — 3 min read
Frais de Notaire on the Côte d'Azur: What You Actually Pay at €800k–€3M
Short answer
On an €800k resale property on the Côte d'Azur, frais de notaire total roughly €60,000 — about 7.5% of the price. At €1.5M the effective rate drops closer to 7.3%, and at €3M it falls to about 7.1%. The headline '7–8%' masks meaningful savings at the price points where most Côte d'Azur buyers operate.
In detail
Both Alpes-Maritimes (06) and Var (83) apply the maximum DMTO rate of 5.81%. That rate alone accounts for the bulk of frais de notaire, and it does not change with price. What does change is the notary's own fee — the émoluments — which follow a nationally regulated degressive scale.
Notary émoluments: the degressive scale (2025)
The tariff set by the Ministère de la Justice uses four tranches:
| Tranche | Rate |
|---|---|
| Up to €6,500 | 3.870% |
| €6,501 – €17,000 | 1.596% |
| €17,001 – €60,000 | 1.064% |
| Above €60,000 | 0.799% |
At €800,000 the notary's émoluments come to roughly €6,350 — about 0.79% of the price. At €3,000,000 they total around €24,000, or 0.80%. The percentage barely moves at high values because almost the entire price falls in the top tranche.
Where it does matter: above €100,000, the notary is entitled to charge a free negotiation supplement (complément de rémunération libre) on the portion exceeding that threshold. This is capped at the émoluments calculated on the same portion and must be agreed in advance. In practice, many Côte d'Azur notaries charge it on transactions above €1M. Always ask for the fee breakdown before signing.
Contribution de sécurité immobilière (CSI)
The CSI (land registry fee) is fixed at 0.10% of the price. On an €800k purchase that is €800; on €3M it is €3,000. Unlike émoluments, this scales linearly with no degressivity.
Worked examples — resale property
| Component | €800,000 | €1,500,000 | €3,000,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DMTO (5.81%) | €46,480 | €87,150 | €174,300 |
| Notary émoluments | ~€6,350 | ~€11,950 | ~€23,950 |
| CSI (0.10%) | €800 | €1,500 | €3,000 |
| Disbursements & copies | ~€1,500 | ~€2,000 | ~€2,500 |
| **Total frais de notaire** | **~€55,130** | **~€102,600** | **~€203,750** |
| **Effective rate** | **~6.9%** | **~6.8%** | **~6.8%** |
The effective rate declines slightly with price. The common shorthand "budget 7–8%" overestimates by €5,000–€15,000 at Côte d'Azur price levels. That difference is worth knowing when comparing offers.
New-build exception
New-build properties (VEFA or first sale within 5 years) attract reduced frais de notaire of roughly 2–3% because they are subject to VAT (20%) instead of DMTO. On the Côte d'Azur, new-build programmes in Antibes, Nice, and Cannes often quote prices "frais de notaire réduits" — the saving on a €1M apartment is approximately €40,000 compared to resale.
"What this means in practice: on a typical Côte d'Azur resale at €1.2M, your frais de notaire will be about €82,000 — not the €96,000 that a flat 8% estimate suggests. That €14,000 difference pays for a year of taxe foncière and insurance combined."
How this compares nationally
The DMTO rate is the same across almost all of mainland France (5.81%). The only variation comes from the degressive émoluments and the likelihood of the free negotiation supplement. On the Côte d'Azur, the higher average transaction value means the effective percentage is lower than in regions where most sales are under €300,000 — but the absolute amount is, of course, much higher.
Based on Ministère de la Justice — tarif des notaires 2025, DGFiP DMTO rates, Service-Public.fr
Last reviewed: Feb 2026
