The average price per m² in Auray is 3 642 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 130 transactions are recorded each year.
Mood illustration of Auray, around the port of Saint-Goustan and the river, at the gateway to the Golfe du Morbihan.
The average price recorded in Auray stands at 3 642 €/m². That average covers a varied stock, in the image of the town: character houses of the old town and of the port of Saint-Goustan, longhouses and detached houses in the outer districts, and more recent apartments built around the station and the roads towards Vannes. Flats remain in the minority against a dominant individual housing, which gives a market where older houses and new-build developments sit side by side. The figures come from the DVF database, which records sales actually registered before notaries.
Prices from the DVF file (Demandes de valeurs foncières, published by the DGFiP), transactions actually recorded at the notary at municipality level. Cross-referenced with the Notaires de France - INSEE indices. Learn more about our methodology.
The Auray market rests on a favoured position, at once the main town of the western Golfe du Morbihan and a rail access point towards Vannes, Lorient, Nantes and Paris. That dual role attracts working households, first-time buyers and second-home purchasers, which keeps demand steady. The charm of the old town and of the port of Saint-Goustan supports the values of character properties, while closeness to the coast and to the gulf widens the pool of buyers beyond local residents alone.
Supply remains constrained by the size of the historic centre and by the heritage protections that limit new building in the old town. Recent developments are concentrated around the station and the approaches to the town, where they answer the demand of young households and investors. As everywhere, energy performance has become a negotiating criterion, in particular on the older stock of the centre and of the port. After the sharp rise of the previous years, the Auray market has gone through an adjustment, in a Breton context of a return to more measured rhythms.
A main town at the gateway to the gulf, Auray sits clearly below the very sought-after coastal municipalities such as Carnac, at a level close to that of Vannes, the neighbouring prefecture town, and above Lorient, further west.
Auray grew up around a crossing point on the Loch, the river that runs down towards the Golfe du Morbihan. From the Middle Ages, the dukes of Brittany had a castle, a bridge and a harbour built below, at Saint-Goustan. The fortified upper town and the port on the lower bank still form the two faces of Auray today: on one side the medieval town and its cobbled lanes lined with half-timbered houses, on the other the quays of the port at the foot of the slopes.
In 1364, the plain to the north of the town was the setting of the battle of Auray, which ended the war of the Breton Succession between Jean de Montfort and Charles de Blois. The clash, in which Bertrand du Guesclin took part, ended with the death of Charles de Blois and sealed the fate of the duchy. The memory of that battle has lastingly marked the region. The town also keeps a rich religious heritage, including the church of Saint-Gildas, built in the 17th century on a former priory and listed as a historic monument.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the port of Saint-Goustan used its position on the river to become an active trading harbour, turned towards coastal shipping and commerce. Its most famous episode remains the arrival of Benjamin Franklin on 3 December 1776: it was at Saint-Goustan that one of the founding fathers of the United States set foot on French soil, before travelling on to Versailles to negotiate with Louis XVI the alliance that would lead to American independence. The quay bears his name today.
Auray has about 14 200 inhabitants and acts as the main town for the western side of the Golfe du Morbihan. The housing stock mixes older houses of the old town and of the port, detached houses in the outer districts and more recent apartments concentrated around the station. Buyers form a varied group: working people employed in Vannes or Lorient who value the rail service, first-time buyers drawn by the new homes near the station, families looking for a house with a garden, and retired people or second-home buyers won over by the setting of the gulf. That diversity of profiles keeps demand steady across every segment.
In Auray, the average value comes out at 3 642 €/m², based on sales registered before notaries and published in the DVF database. That municipal average blends very different situations, from an older town house to a new apartment near the station. Location, the condition of the property, closeness to the port or to the gulf and energy performance explain most of the gaps. For a reliable valuation, it is better to rely on comparable sales than on the average alone.
The town reads first through its two historic poles. The old town and the port of Saint-Goustan, with their character houses and their cobbled lanes, attract buyers looking for charm and often trade above the municipal average. The station district, more recent, appeals to working households and investors thanks to the rail service. The outer districts and the peripheral housing estates offer, for their part, more affordable houses with land.
Auray has a station served by TER and TGV trains, which puts Paris about 2h50 away and Nantes around 1h40. That rail link is one of the main assets of the town and feeds part of the property demand. Day to day, Vannes is about fifteen minutes away and Lorient a little further, which makes it possible to live in Auray while working in either of those two conurbations. A car remains useful for reaching the coastal municipalities of the gulf.
The Auray market is first of all a market of houses, whether the older dwellings of the old town and of the port or the detached houses of the outer districts. Apartment supply exists but remains more limited, concentrated on the recent developments near the station and the centre. The choice depends on your project: a house with a garden for family use, an apartment near the station for a rental investment or a first purchase. Price levels vary markedly from one sector to another.
Some plots close to the river Loch and to the port may be exposed to a risk of flooding or of marine submersion: that information is checked in the planning documents and in the statement of risks before any purchase. Properties in the medieval town may come under heritage protections that frame works on facades. Finally, letting a furnished tourist rental means complying with the rules in force, to be checked with the town hall.
This analysis is published by Immover, an independent observatory founded by Antony Barbier. Data sourced from official sources (DVF, INSEE, Notaries of France).