The proximity to Luxembourg comes at a high price on the French side. In Audun-le-Tiche, the advertised median rent for a flat is set to reach €20 per square metre in 2025, according to the new report by the Housing Observatory focusing on the Luxembourg functional area, published on Wednesday 30 September. This is the highest level among the French border municipalities analysed.
Audun-le-Tiche is ahead of Cattenom, where the median rent is €19 per square metre, Entrange, at €18.5, and Volmerange-les-Mines, at €17. Villerupt, Hettange-Grande and Herserange stand at €16, whilst Longwy and Mont-Saint-Martin are at €15. By way of comparison, the median rent is €16 in Thionville and €15 in Metz.
However, this ranking should be treated with caution. The study only lists 34 property listings in Audun-le-Tiche, 11 in Cattenom and 12 in Entrange. The sample sizes are larger in Thionville, with 435 listings, and in Metz, with 1,627 listings. The figures therefore provide an indication of the pressure on local markets without allowing for a definitive ranking of all border towns to be established.
A border effect
Even at €20 per square metre, Audun-le-Tiche remains significantly cheaper than Luxembourg, where the advertised median rent stands at €33.3 per square metre. The gap widens even further when compared with Luxembourg City, where the median stands at €39.1 – almost double the figure.
Nevertheless, the border effect is clearly evident. Across the whole of northern Lorraine covered by the study, the median advertised rent stands at €12 per square metre, compared with around €10 in the Walloon, Saarland and Rhineland regions analysed. The closer the properties are to Luxembourg’s main employment centres, the more prices tend to rise.
French data had already highlighted this divide. Published in December 2025 by the French Ministry for Housing and the National Agency for Housing Information, the official rent map estimated the rent for a typical flat in Audun-le-Tiche at €17 per square metre. Hettange-Grande stood at €17.3, Entrange at €16.7, Thionville at €16.2 and Volmerange-les-Mines at €16.1. Metz was lower, at €13.4.
French studies
These figures are not directly comparable with those in the new Luxembourg report. The French indicator corresponds to an estimate, including service charges, for a typical unfurnished 52m² flat, based on property advertisements published between 2019 and 2025. The Observatoire de l’habitat report, on the other hand, presents the median figures for flats actually surveyed in 2025. This difference in methodology explains, in particular, the discrepancies observed for Audun-le-Tiche and Cattenom.
A study by Agape, the urban planning agency for Northern Lorraine, had already reached the same conclusion based on Anil’s estimates for 2023. At that time, the Cattenom area and its surroundings had an average rent of €15.3 per square metre, the highest in the Grand Est region. Portes de France-Thionville came third at €14.2, the Pays-Haut Val-d’Alzette fifth at €13.5 and the Grand Longwy eighth at €13.2. The average for Northern Lorraine stood at €12.4, compared with €11.4 for the Grand Est region as a whole.
A gap in income
The income gap fuels this demand. According to Insee, workers from Moselle, Meurthe-et-Moselle and Meuse earn on average 65% more when they work in Luxembourg than when they are employed in France. This pay advantage contributes to differences in households’ financial capacity within the same housing market.
Crossing the border still offers better value for money compared with Luxembourg, where the advertised median rent stands at €33.3 per square metre. However, the nearest French towns are no longer necessarily a cheap option. In Audun-le-Tiche, the rental market has already largely aligned itself with the purchasing power of workers commuting to Luxembourg.
