The average price per m² in Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne is 1 600 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 39 transactions are recorded each year.
Atmospheric illustration of Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne, sub-prefecture in the south of the Mayenne department, between Laval and Angers.
An apartment in Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne sells for around 1 600 €/m², according to sales registered by notaries and published in DVF data, the French notarised sales database. This figure rests on a modest flat market, of around 39 apartment transactions a year, including 38 in the reference year used. The properties concerned are mainly in the old town, in the old buildings near the quays and in a few more recent residential blocks in the centre. The bulk of the market remains the detached house, with 346 house sales recorded in the database: suburban houses in the outlying neighbourhoods, village houses in Azé and Saint-Fort, stone town houses in the centre. On such a small volume, the condition of the dwelling, the presence of a lift and the view over the river make the price of an apartment vary more than the average suggests.
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.
Demand rests on a rural and agricultural employment area, driven by livestock farming, the agri-food industry and the public services of a sub-prefecture. Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne also attracts households who work in Laval or Angers and are looking for more affordable prices than in those two cities. The supply of apartments remains limited, which makes the flat market sensitive to the slightest atypical property put up for sale. Houses, far more numerous, give a more stable reading of price trends.
As everywhere in France, energy performance now weighs on negotiations. Dwellings rated F or G, common in the old buildings of the centre, sell at a discount that reflects the cost of works and the timetable for the ban on renting them out. Conversely, a renovated, well-insulated property close to the shops finds a buyer more quickly. To sell at the right price, it is best to base your valuation on recent sales of the same type of property in the same area.
Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne sits below Laval and well below Angers, the two cities to which it is linked by the RN 162. It remains, however, slightly above Segré-en-Anjou Bleu, its neighbour in Haut-Anjou.
The town takes its name from an officer called Gontier, to whom the Count of Anjou, Foulque Nerra, entrusted the guard of a fortress built on a promontory overlooking the Mayenne, whose existence is recorded in 1007. This forward post then protected Anjou against Maine and Brittany, and a market town grew up around the castle. Château-Gontier long belonged to Haut-Anjou, before being attached to the Mayenne department at the Revolution. The municipality celebrated its millennium in 2007.
From this origin survives the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste, an 11th-century Romanesque building that overlooks the river from the top of the old town. Around it, the sloping streets, the private mansions and the former convents make up a protected area of 66 hectares, which contains around fifteen historic monuments. The Mayenne, canalised and lined with its towpath, was long used to transport goods. Today, this towpath is a greenway used by the Vélo Francette, the cycle route that links Laval to Angers along the valley.
The current town is a new municipality, created on 1 January 2019 by the merger of Château-Gontier with Azé and Saint-Fort, two neighbouring municipalities that became delegated municipalities. It is a sub-prefecture of the Mayenne and the centre of the Pays de Château-Gontier community of municipalities. Its economy remains linked to the agriculture of the south Mayenne: the parc Saint-Fiacre hosts the largest calf market in Europe, which makes the town a trading place for livestock farming across the whole of western France.
Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne has 16 584 inhabitants since the merger with Azé and Saint-Fort. The housing stock is dominated by detached houses, with denser housing in the old town and around the quays. Apartments mainly attract single people, retirees looking to move closer to shops and health services, and working people at the start of their careers. Families tend to look instead at houses in the suburban neighbourhoods or in the more residential areas of Azé and Saint-Fort. Some buyers work in Laval or Angers and choose a medium-sized town with its own facilities.
The current benchmark is 1 600 €/m² for an apartment, calculated on sales actually signed before a notary. For a two-room flat of 45 m², that represents a budget of around 72 000 € excluding purchase costs. As the number of sales is limited, a renovated apartment with a view over the Mayenne can deviate markedly from this benchmark, in either direction. A detailed valuation of your property remains the most reliable way to refine this figure.
The old town, around the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste and the castle, concentrates the old housing, the shops and most of the apartments. On the other side of the river, the Bazouges neighbourhood forms a second historic core, with town houses and more mixed housing. Around these two centres extend more recent suburban neighbourhoods. The delegated municipalities of Azé and Saint-Fort keep a more residential character, with more houses with gardens.
Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne has had no passenger rail service since 1969, the line towards Sablé-sur-Sarthe now being used only for freight. The RN 162 national road links the town to Laval to the north and to Angers to the south, and its widening to dual carriageway towards Laval is the subject of a State project. Aléop regional coaches, including an express line, provide connections to the stations of Laval and Angers. For someone who works in either of these two cities, the car remains the most common means of transport.
The local market is first and foremost a market of houses, which account for the bulk of sales. Houses sell on average slightly above apartments per square metre, but offer more space and often a plot of land, which explains their appeal to families. The apartment meets a more specific need: living within walking distance of the shops and services of the centre. On resale, a well-maintained house generally finds a buyer more easily than an apartment without a lift in an old building.
A large part of the old town lies within a protected area, where exterior work (façades, joinery, roofs) requires the opinion of the Architectes des Bâtiments de France, the state heritage architects. Properties close to the Mayenne may also be exposed to flood risk: consult the applicable flood risk prevention plan (PPRI) and the Géorisques website before signing. The energy performance certificate (DPE) deserves particular attention in stone buildings, often rated at the bottom of the scale. These points weigh on the cost of works and on the price you will be able to obtain on resale.
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Value my propertyThis analysis is published by Immover, an independent observatory founded by Antony Barbier. Data sourced from official sources (DVF, INSEE, Notaries of France).