Luxury Real Estate | PCD Monaco Conference 2026

The luxury real estate panel assembled three professionals whose combined vantage points — French Riviera agency work, buying agent services across European markets, and private lending against premium assets — provided a genuinely multi-dimensional picture of a market that is, in the words of one panellist, "dancing to its own tune."

Chaired by David Bell, the panel brought together Steve de Pooter of Valmont Riviera, a boutique agency operating in the Cannes basin and Golden Triangle around Monaco; Jerome Lartaud of Domus Holmes Property Finder, a buying agent specialising in prime and super-prime search and acquisition (who explicitly does not sell property); and Hugh Wade-Jones, founder and CEO of Phinom, a private lender working across prime residential markets in the UK and continental Europe.

The French Riviera: Structure and Surge

De Pooter opened with a characterisation of the French Riviera that balanced historical solidity with current dynamism. The market has, for over a century, attracted people who could choose to live anywhere in the world — and continues to do so. The lower end of the market, between €1 million and €5 million, is highly active. There is a gap between €5 million and €10 million, but above €10 million — and particularly in the €20 million to €50 million range — there is currently a notable surge of interest.

The market has traditionally been dominated by European buyers; the Russian market is somewhat reduced; Gulf buyers came, retreated, and are returning; and American interest, historically concentrated around Saint-Tropez and Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, has shifted significantly towards the Cannes basin and Cap d'Antibes in the past two years.

The Off-Market World

De Pooter's description of the off-market market was illuminating. At the top end — buyers with €20 million to €30 million and upward — the primary driver is not price negotiation but privacy. These clients do not want their purchase intentions to become public knowledge. They work through trusted networks, private conversations, and agents who understand that the relationship begins with understanding where the property fits within the client's broader life. "What does success look like for you?" is the fundamental question.

A More Data-Driven Buyer

Lartaud, working across the broader European landscape from a London base, noted that the market had been sluggish in 2023 and 2024 but is beginning to show renewed momentum — particularly in Paris and prime central London, as well as the south of France.

One significant development is that buyers are becoming more data-driven: relying on comparables, conducting due diligence more rigorously, and — increasingly — thinking about exit strategies at the point of acquisition, not merely at the point of sale. "How quickly can you dispose of the asset? Will you find the right buyer? Will you recoup your money?" These are questions that clients are beginning to ask at the start of the process, not the end.

Financing: The Continental Gap

Wade-Jones offered the most expansive commentary of the session, drawing on his experience both as a lender operating at higher rates than mainstream banks and as someone who has watched the London market through multiple cycles — from the run on Northern Rock in 2007, through Brexit, through COVID, and to the present day.

His central thesis on continental European financing was striking: the UK operates a "dry loan" model in which creditworthy borrowers borrow against their property; continental Europe operates an assets-under-management model in which banks will lend only if clients bring equivalent sums to manage on the balance sheet. "It's like the banks lending money to people who don't need to borrow money," he observed. For those who don't fit into the existing private banking relationships, accessing finance on the continent is genuinely difficult.

Monaco: Supply, Demand, and Pressure

On Monaco specifically, Wade-Jones noted that the market operates in a different category entirely: rents are extremely high across all property types, and the combination of inbound demand — from the UK, Dubai, and other locations — and restricted supply means prices are unlikely to weaken materially. His daughter's international school had received 327 applications for a school of 850 fully enrolled students, which he offered as informal evidence of the demand pressure.

Portugal: The Unexpected Star

Portugal emerged as the afternoon's unexpected star. Wade-Jones, who has a property there and bought land four years ago, has seen values increase 10% to 20% annually since. The Algarve, Cascais, and Comporta are attracting both American buyers — drawn by currency advantage and comparative value — and a substantial Chinese community. The non-habitual resident regime provides a decade of favourable taxation. "Three million euros buys you the kind of home you can show off to your mates," he noted — a significant contrast to equivalent sums in the south of France or prime London.

Scarcity, Location, and the Long View

Lartaud defined ultra-prime as the top 1% to 3% of any market by value — but stressed that luxury itself has been substantially devalued as a marketing term. The highest UK transaction of the previous year was the Holm in Regent's Park — 40 bedrooms, nicknamed "the London White House" — which sold for £149 million, having sold for £111 million less than two years earlier.

What makes property genuinely rare, all three panellists agreed, is scarcity of location that cannot be replicated: a Belle Époque villa that will never be built again, a waterfront position that cannot be extended, a view that cannot be obscured. "The location you cannot change," de Pooter said simply.

His closing note was characteristically optimistic: the French Riviera is entering a period of significant wealth transfer as an older generation passes properties to their children. The stock of Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, Cannes, and Saint-Tropez is about to become more available. For buyers positioned to move thoughtfully in that environment, the timing may be genuinely favourable.