Are you considering purchasing an apartment in Paris’ 3rd arrondissement?
Need some insight before diving in? Quality of life, neighborhood specifics, housing distribution, and guidance from your apartment hunter…
This guide provides everything you need to know about this area.
Your real estate hunter recommends the Arts-et-Métiers arrondissement for its still reasonable prices (while being selective about the buildings) to find the apartment you need. Also the northern part of the Enfants-Rouge arrondissement, which has benefited from the redevelopment of Place de République and the attraction of the southern part of the 10th arrondissement in recent years.
From north of the Place des Vosges – which borders the 4th arrondissement – to the Porte Saint-Martin, via the Carreau du Temple, the 3rd arrondissement is the most densely populated of Paris’ first 4 arrondissements. Crossed by 2 metro lines (3 and 11) and 2 others on the outskirts (8 and 9), the transport network is coherent, complemented by several bus lines, including the much sought-after 96.
New activities have been developing for several years. Culturally, with the opening of a large number of art galleries, but also with the arrival of young fashion designers. The lack of green spaces in this very urban area is becoming noticeable.
34 750 residents
€31 500 of median income, a bit higher than the average in Paris.
Strong transaction flow thanks to the shortest average length of residence in Paris.
61% studio and 2-room apartments, an over-representation of small surface areas, with the vast majority of older buildings dating from before 1919.
34%
are homeowners
62%
are under 45 years old
61%
have lived here for nine years or less
39%
are families
Construction Years
Number of Rooms
Before the arrival of the Templars, the 3rd arrondissement was an uninhabitable marshland where only an abbey (St-Martin des Champs) had dared to settle. Thanks to their wealth from the Crusades, the Knights Templar built a fortified “little town” by purchasing a large amount of land, which they then cultivated before enclosing the whole area: this was the temple enclosure. It wasn’t until Charles V (14th century) that the 3rd arrondissement became part of Paris and began to develop. Charles V wished to settle at the Hôtel Saint-Paul, which obliged him to extend the fortifications of Paris eastwards, including the surrounding marshlands.
A period of major urbanization saw the construction of the Hôpital des Enfants Rouges, founded in 1534 (now the Marché des Enfants Rouges), and the creation of the Place Royale (now Place des Vosges) under Henri IV. With the departure of the court to Versailles, the upper middle class moved west (Paris 1), giving a new lease of life to crafts and commerce. Renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries for its garment and leather industries, this period saw the creation of the “Carreau de Temple” (1863), a trading center for Temple merchants and street fripiers.
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