The average price per m² in Gien is 1 140 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 39 transactions are recorded each year.
Atmospheric illustration of Gien, a town on the Loire in the east of the Loiret, dominated by its château and its faience works.
The average price of apartments in Gien stands at 1 140 €/m², based on DVF data, the French notarised sales database, which records the transactions actually registered with notaries. It is one of the most affordable levels in the Val de Loire, well below Orléans and its outskirts. This average covers a contrasting stock: buildings in the centre rebuilt after the bombing of 1940, older homes on the streets running down to the Loire, and more recent developments on the outskirts. Houses, which make up the majority of the municipality, trade on average at around 1 382 €/m². The condition of the property, the view over the Loire and the château, the floor level and the closeness of the stone bridge and of the historic centre make values vary appreciably. The market remains loose, with a moderate volume of sales that leaves room for first-time buyers and families.
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 Gien market remains fairly illiquid compared with the main centres of the department, with a moderate volume of sales for its size. Demand bears mostly on houses and on apartments in the rebuilt centre, bought as main homes. Supply, regularly fed by resales of the older stock, tends to exceed a limited local demand, which holds prices down and sometimes lengthens selling times.
Several factors explain this low level. The distance from the Orléans urban area, the main price driver in the Loiret, weighs on values, while the fabric of main homes and the absence of speculative pressure keep the market quiet. Conversely, the Loire setting, the heritage of the château and of the faience works and a contained purchase budget sustain steady demand from first-time buyers and families.
Gien shows one of the lowest levels in the east of the department, below Montargis and well below Orléans and Fleury-les-Aubrais, both pulled up by the Orléans urban area. The town remains an affordable entry point for anyone looking at the Val de Loire.
The château that overlooks the town was built at the end of the fifteenth century for Anne de Beaujeu, daughter of Louis XI and regent of France during the minority of Charles VIII. The building moves away from the defensive character of the Middle Ages towards a residence of brick and stone. Since 1952 it has housed a museum devoted to hunting, to history and to nature in the Val de Loire.
The other name of Gien is faience. The faience works was founded in 1821 by the Englishman Thomas Hall, who settled on the banks of the Loire and bought the buildings of the former Minimes convent. Two centuries later, the factory carries on a craft that has made the reputation of the town well beyond the Loiret.
In June 1940, the German offensive struck Gien hard: the town was bombed from 15 to 17 June and the fire that followed lasted three days. Three hundred and seventy-five residential buildings were destroyed and a large part of the historic centre disappeared. Reconstruction went on block by block until 1962, giving the town centre its present face of brick and tile, set against the stone bridge over the Loire.
Gien has 13 459 inhabitants and acts as the sub-prefecture town for the east of the Loiret. The stock is dominated by houses, complemented by the buildings of the rebuilt centre and a few developments on the outskirts. The municipality attracts first-time buyers, families and working households of the Gien area, who find here prices well below those of the Orléans urban area. The budget needed to buy remains contained, which supports steady demand for main homes rather than for investments.
The average price of apartments in Gien is 1 140 €/m², based on DVF data, the French notarised sales database, which records the sales actually completed before notaries. Houses, which are more numerous, trade on average at around 1 382 €/m². These averages cover gaps depending on the condition of the property, the floor level, the view over the Loire and the distance to the centre. The level remains one of the lowest in the Val de Loire.
Gien lies away from the Orléans urban area, which concentrates demand and the highest prices in the department. The town has a loose market, with a supply of houses and of apartments in the rebuilt centre that often exceeds demand. This imbalance, combined with a stable population, keeps levels accessible for buyers who settle here all year round.
Gien has a station served by the regional trains of the Centre-Val de Loire, towards Orléans on one side and Nevers on the other. By car, the town is linked by the RD2007, the former route nationale 7, and by the roads of the Giennois. Orléans, the main employment and services hub of the department, lies some sixty kilometres away, back up the Loire.
No. Unlike coastal municipalities or resorts, Gien is first of all a town of main homes, lived in all year round. Demand comes from households settling for the long term, first-time buyers and families, rather than from second-home buyers. This structure explains a steady market, but one without speculative pressure.
The choice depends on the budget and on the plan. Apartments, concentrated in the rebuilt centre, offer the lowest entry ticket. Houses, in the majority in the municipality and found in the suburban neighbourhoods as well as in the older streets, trade a little above, because of their floor area and their outdoor space. In both cases, prices remain contained compared with the rest of the Loiret.
This analysis is published by Immover, an independent observatory founded by Antony Barbier. Data sourced from official sources (DVF, INSEE, Notaries of France).