The average price per m² in Donville-les-Bains is 3 949 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 28 transactions are recorded each year.
Ambience illustration of Donville-les-Bains, a seaside resort of the Manche, in Normandy.
In Donville-les-Bains, the average price of apartments stands at 3 949 €/m², based on sales actually registered in the notaries' DVF database. That level reflects the commune's status as a seaside resort, adjoining Granville, on the côte des Havres. The stock remains dominated by the detached house, the apartment being rarer and often facing the beach. Closeness to the seafront, the view, the condition of the property and its energy performance move prices. A large share of second homes keeps the market tight. These notarial figures give a town-wide marker, which a reliable valuation then refines property by property.
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.
Donville-les-Bains lives to the rhythm of the sea and of its second-home buyers. Demand for a seaside pied-à-terre, coming from Normandy and the Paris region, meets a supply kept limited by the Coastal Act and by the scarcity of seafront land. Properties close to the promenade and the beach, above all those with a view, concentrate the value, which widens the gap with the sectors further back. The immediate closeness of Granville, a well-equipped main town, widens the pool of buyers and supports the market all year as well as in season.
Location governs most prices: the distance to the beach and the quality of the view come first, while a home with a poor energy rating now trades at a discount. The stock, dominated by the detached house, steers part of the demand towards villas and houses, while the seafront apartment stays sought after as a second home. Reliance on holiday buyers makes the market sensitive to seasonality and to household spending power. A well-placed, bright and properly renovated property finds a buyer faster than a home priced out of step with its location.
Donville-les-Bains sits at a level close to Granville, its immediate neighbour, above the inland towns of the Manche such as Avranches, but below the well-known resorts of the neighbouring Breton coast such as Saint-Malo.
The name Donville is recorded in the forms Dunvilla in 1172 and then Donvilla at the end of the 12th century, a medieval place name in -ville, meaning a rural estate, preceded by a Germanic personal name. The site has long been occupied: Gallo-Roman remains have been found there and the commune lay on the Roman road linking Coutances to Saint-Pair. Around 870, according to tradition, Saint Clair settled on the spot and founded a monastery on the site of a former Roman villa. In 1907, the commune added the suffix les-Bains to its name, to tell itself apart from Donville, in the Calvados, and to assert its emerging seaside vocation.
In the Middle Ages, Donville belonged to the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel: in 1022, Richard II, Duke of Normandy, gave the barony of Saint-Pair, on which Donville depended, to the monks of the Mont. The village then lived to the rhythm of the seasons, peopled by ploughmen and fishermen, at the gates of Granville. In the 19th century, activity diversified: in the 1870s, the industrialist Louis Dior set up a fertiliser plant in the Boscq valley, producing superphosphates and fertilisers. Later becoming Soferti, it ceased activity between 1998 and the early 2000s, and its dismantling was completed around 2009.
The seaside boom took hold in the 20th century. In 1924, the Paris developer Charles Léon Flaus founded the company La Plage normande, which launched the tourist development of the resort and gave its name to the long sandy beach. A promenade of 468 metres was built facing the sea, the backbone of the present seafront. The commune was officially classified as a seaside resort on 12 July 1962. Mussel farming took hold on the foreshore, north of the Ermitage, from the 1960s, its posts still visible at low tide. Donville-les-Bains today combines beach, a laid-out seafront and the immediate closeness of Granville.
Donville-les-Bains has 3 146 inhabitants, according to INSEE, the French national statistics institute, a rather older population: close to half of residents are over 60. The commune's market is marked by the second home, which accounts for around a quarter of dwellings according to INSEE, against two thirds for main residences. The stock is dominated by the detached house, at around 72 % of dwellings, the apartment staying in the minority, at barely more than a quarter. Among year-round residents, a clear majority are owners, a little more than 60 % according to INSEE. There are retired households settled for good and second-home buyers drawn by closeness to Granville and by the seafront.
The average price of apartments in Donville-les-Bains stands at 3 949 €/m², based on DVF sales completed before notaries. That average covers varied properties, from the seafront studio to the apartment further back. The view, closeness to the beach, the floor level, the aspect and the condition of the home explain most of the gaps. On a resort market, a reliable valuation rests on comparable sales rather than on the town-wide average alone.
The Donville stock is overwhelmingly made up of houses, around 72 % of dwellings according to INSEE, from seaside villas to homes set further back. The apartment, rarer, is concentrated mainly near the seafront and the beach. The choice depends on your plans: the house dominates year-round supply, while the seafront apartment attracts second-home buyers. Each type is valued on its location and its view.
The seafront, around the promenade and the Normandy beach, concentrates demand and the highest prices, with the properties offering a sea view. Moving away from the shore, inland and towards the Boscq valley, prices ease. Closeness to Granville, on whose boundary Donville lies, adds to the appeal of the districts near that boundary, well connected to the shops and services of the neighbouring town.
Donville-les-Bains adjoins Granville directly, extending its urban fabric to the north; you can pass from one to the other on foot or in a few minutes by car. Granville offers its station, its shops, its harbour and its ferry links to the Chausey islands and Jersey. That immediate closeness to a well-equipped main town, while keeping the setting of a residential resort, is one of the drivers of demand in Donville.
Yes. Like all seaside communes, Donville-les-Bains comes under the Coastal Act, which frames building near the shore and protects coastal natural areas. That constraint limits new building on the seafront and makes front-line properties scarcer, which supports their value. Before a purchase or works near the beach, it is wise to consult the local planning scheme and the easements at 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).