The average price per m² in Famars is 2 154 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 12 transactions are recorded each year.
Atmospheric illustration of Famars, a former Gallo-Roman settlement south of Valenciennes.
In Famars, the benchmark price stands at 2 154 €/m² for an apartment, a level above that of neighbouring Valenciennes. That position is explained by the presence of the Mont-Houy campus within the municipality and by the tram service, which sustain constant rental demand on apartments. These values come from DVF data, the French notarised sales database, that is the transactions actually registered before notaries, and not from asking prices. The stock mixes brick houses and recent blocks, which makes the average dependent on the segment the property belongs to.
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 Famars market is structured by the university. The Mont-Houy campus and the tram terminus sustain permanent rental demand that does not exist in neighbouring municipalities of comparable size, and that explains an apartment price above that of Valenciennes. This specialisation is an asset as long as student numbers hold up, and a weakness if the supply of purpose-built housing grows faster than demand. The house segment, for its part, follows the general conditions of the Valenciennes area, which are quieter.
In the medium term, the trend will depend on the policy of the higher education institution and on the economic momentum of the Valenciennes area, marked by industrial reconversion and by the rail sector. The municipality also benefits from its position in the urban area, five kilometres from central Valenciennes, in a sector where prices remain among the most affordable in the Hauts-de-France. The energy renovation of the older brick stock will be the main factor differentiating values on resale.
The municipality holds an intermediate position: its prices exceed those of Marly and Valenciennes, its immediate neighbours, and remain below those of Orchies, closer to the Lille metropolitan area.
Famars carries its ancient origin in its name: Fanum Martis, the temple of Mars. The Gallo-Roman settlement occupied a strategic site south of present-day Valenciennes, on the roads of northern Gaul. Excavations have uncovered Roman baths of the second century, about seventy metres by forty, one of the best documented bath complexes in the region. In the Late Empire the site was fortified and became a castrum, a military post in charge of controlling the valley. The inhabitants still bear today the local name of Sarrasins, inherited from tradition.
After Antiquity, Famars became again a village of the Hainaut, dominated by its château, destroyed and rebuilt several times through the conflicts that crossed the region. The last major destruction resulted from the bombardments of the First World War. The municipality remained rural and modest until the middle of the 20th century, with around a thousand inhabitants in 1968, turned towards the farming of the plain and towards the industry of Valenciennes, only five kilometres away.
The turning point was academic. The university of Valenciennes set up its Mont-Houy campus partly within the territory of Famars, which turned the municipality into a higher education hub. The population passed two thousand five hundred inhabitants in the 1990s and stood at 2 474 in 2023. The T1 and T2 tram lines of the urban area have their Université terminus there, a heavy public transport service that is exceptional for a municipality of this size and that explains the particular structure of its housing market.
According to INSEE, the French statistics institute, Famars has 2 474 inhabitants and 90,1 per cent of its stock is occupied as a main residence. The split between houses, at 58,3 per cent, and apartments, at 39,1 per cent, is markedly more balanced than in the neighbouring villages of the Hainaut. Tenants are in the majority, with 53,7 per cent of main residences against 45,3 per cent of owner-occupiers, a direct consequence of the presence of the Mont-Houy campus. The market therefore mixes families wanting a brick house with a garden and investors targeting student rental demand and that of young working people.
The benchmark price stands at 2 154 €/m² for an apartment. That figure comes from DVF data, the sales actually signed before notaries. It is an average: a recent studio close to the tram terminus and a large older apartment move away from this base. The level is above that of Valenciennes, which is uncommon for a peripheral municipality of this size.
It is a direct consequence of the Mont-Houy campus and of the tram terminus. Student rental demand and that of young working people bear on small recent floor areas, whose price per square metre is mechanically high. The house market, for its part, involves an older Hainaut brick stock, at the same levels as the neighbouring rural municipalities. The two segments obey different logics.
Yes. The T1 and T2 lines of the Valenciennes urban network have their Université terminus within the municipality. For a municipality of around two thousand five hundred inhabitants, having a segregated public transport service is exceptional. This link connects directly with central Valenciennes and its railway station, and is a decisive argument for properties located near the stops.
The structure of the stock, with 53,7 per cent of tenants according to INSEE, shows real and lasting rental demand, anchored to the Mont-Houy campus. In return, this market is seasonal and sensitive to student numbers and to the supply of purpose-built residences. Vacancy between two lettings and the level of upkeep of small floor areas are the two points to examine before committing.
The area is a major archaeological site, with Roman baths of the second century and a castrum of the Late Empire: any building project may give rise to preventive archaeology requirements, which lengthen timescales. The older Hainaut brick stock also calls for attention to insulation and damp. The inter-municipal local planning document can be consulted 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).