The average price per m² in Aytré is 3 944 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 51 transactions are recorded each year.
Illustration of Aytré, on the Atlantic coast, south of La Rochelle.
The average price of apartments in Aytré stands at 3 944 €/m², based on DVF transactions actually recorded at the notary (DVF is the French notarised sales database). This average covers a stock balanced between houses and apartments, inherited from the industrial and residential history of the municipality. It mixes the detached-housing neighbourhoods, the blocks close to La Rochelle and the areas turned towards the coast, between the Platin beach and the marshes. Proximity to La Rochelle, the distance to the sea and the condition of the property cause values to vary strongly. Aytré remains the second town of the La Rochelle conurbation, at once a residential suburb and a coastal municipality.
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 Aytré market is driven first by the immediate proximity of La Rochelle, whose high prices shift part of the demand onto the neighbouring municipalities. The second town of the conurbation, Aytré offers a compromise between access to the coast, the presence of industrial jobs and values below those of central La Rochelle. This position attracts both working people and first-time buyers, which sustains a steady market and a rental stock fed by the employment area and by the demographic dynamism of the La Rochelle conurbation.
Several drivers sustain this price level. The coast, with the Platin beach and the natural areas of the marshes, adds an amenity value sought after on the Atlantic coast. Industrial employment, around the railway factory, and the demographic dynamism of the La Rochelle conurbation support year-round demand. New supply nonetheless remains governed by the protection of the coast and the wetlands, which limits urban expansion and concentrates part of the transactions on the existing stock, with about fifty apartment sales a year in the DVF data.
Aytré sits below La Rochelle, its immediate neighbour, while remaining above inland towns such as Rochefort. The most telling comparison is with the seaside resorts of the estuary, such as Royan.
Aytré has been occupied since Antiquity, as shown by the many Gallo-Roman remains found on its territory. In the Middle Ages, the village suffered the Norman raids that struck the coast, before being attached to the crown of France in the second half of the 14th century. Long turned towards the sea, the municipality then lived from vines and from working the salt marshes that border the coast. This rural and maritime economy shaped a modest settlement, spread between the village and the hamlets close to the marshes, away from the nearby town of La Rochelle.
The 20th century tipped Aytré into industry. In 1918, the Middletown Car Company set up a railway rolling-stock workshop in the municipality, on the southern edge of La Rochelle. The establishment passed in 1920 to the Entreprises industrielles charentaises, then to Brissonneau et Lotz in 1956, before being taken over by the Alsthom group in 1972, which became Alstom in 1998. The factory became one of the main industrial sites of the department: Citadis trams, TGV Duplex trainsets and high-speed trains are assembled there today. This activity durably marked the employment and the settlement of the municipality.
The industrial boom went hand in hand with a strong population growth and a proactive housing policy, which gave rise to new neighbourhoods, shops, schools and sports and cultural facilities. Aytré thus became the second most populous municipality of the La Rochelle conurbation, which it joined in 1993. The town nonetheless keeps its opening onto the coast, with the long Platin beach, the Godechaud cove renowned for oyster farming, and a marsh site turned into a nature reserve. This contrast between residential areas, industrial hub and natural spaces characterises Aytré today.
Aytré has 9 746 inhabitants. According to INSEE, the housing stock is split in a balanced way between houses, a little more than half, and apartments, a little less than half, which sets the municipality apart from a purely detached-housing suburb. The occupancy status is also shared, with a close proportion between owner-occupiers and tenants, a sign of an active rental market fed by the proximity of La Rochelle and its employment area. The vacancy rate remains low. Buyers split between working people of the conurbation, households drawn by the coast and first-time buyers seeking an alternative to La Rochelle prices.
The average price of apartments in Aytré is 3 944 €/m², based on DVF transactions actually recorded at the notary. This average varies depending on proximity to La Rochelle, the distance to the Platin beach, floor level, the condition of the property and the presence of outdoor space. A recent apartment close to the coast and an older home in the back neighbourhoods are not at the same level.
Aytré has a long beach, the Platin beach, which stretches for nearly two kilometres in the Godechaud cove. As the bay is shallow and the sea withdraws far, swimming is done mainly around high tide. The site, bordered by marshes and a nature reserve, is also appreciated for walking, water activities and the oyster farming that marks this part of the coast.
Aytré adjoins La Rochelle to the south, about six kilometres from the centre. The municipality is served by the conurbation's bus network and has its own railway halt on the line towards La Rochelle and Rochefort. The conurbation's cycle paths also link Aytré to central La Rochelle and the seafront, a much-used means of travel on this flat coastal territory.
The Aytré market is more balanced than in many suburbs: according to INSEE, houses and apartments share the stock almost equally. The reference price of 3 944 €/m² applies to apartments, numerous in the blocks close to La Rochelle. Houses, spread across the detached-housing neighbourhoods and near the marshes, sell according to plot size and the distance to the coast.
The railway factory set up in Aytré since 1918, today operated by Alstom, remains one of the main industrial employers of the department. It assembles trams and high-speed trains, and its activity weighs on local employment and on housing demand. This industrial presence, combined with the proximity of La Rochelle, supports a property market fed both by working people and by buyers drawn by the coast.
This analysis is published by Immover, an independent observatory founded by Antony Barbier. Data sourced from official sources (DVF, INSEE, Notaries of France).