The average price per m² in Le Crotoy is 5 754 €/m² for an apartment, based on actual notarised (DVF) sales. About 21 transactions are recorded each year.
Mood illustration of Le Crotoy, in the baie de Somme.
In Le Crotoy, the average price stands at around 5 754 €/m², a high level that reflects the strong demand for second homes in the baie de Somme. The average covers a contrasting stock: seafront houses and houses of the upper town, seaside villas and apartments in the older fabric of the harbour. The scarcity of coastal land and the tourist appeal support values. These figures come from the DVF data, which records the transactions actually registered before notaries, and therefore reflect real sales rather than asking prices.
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 market in Le Crotoy is first of all a market of second homes, very dependent on the tourist appeal of the baie de Somme. Demand comes largely from outside buyers, from the Paris region and the Hauts-de-France, drawn by the closeness of the sea and by the peculiarity of a beach facing due south. The scarcity of coastal land and the constraints protecting the bay limit new building, which concentrates trade on the existing stock and lastingly supports seafront values.
Compared with the other resorts of the coast, Le Crotoy sits above neighbours such as Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, but well below Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, the high-end reference of the côte d'Opale. The annual volume of transactions remains limited by the large share of second homes, whose owners rarely sell. Prices are therefore very sensitive to the precise location, the view and the distance to the beach, more than to employment or to local demographic trends.
Le Crotoy sits above its neighbour Saint-Valery-sur-Somme and above Berck, which is more affordable, but remains well below Le Touquet-Paris-Plage, the high-end reference of the coast.
Le Crotoy has held a strategic position in the baie de Somme since the Middle Ages. The town received its charter in 1209 and became an important port of Picardy and of the kingdom of France. During the Hundred Years War, its castle served as a stronghold: Joan of Arc was held prisoner there from 21 November to 20 December 1430, before her transfer to Rouen. Long turned towards fishing and maritime trade, the town is laid out between an upper town, perched, and a lower town, facing the harbour and the bay.
The seaside boom transformed Le Crotoy from the 19th century onwards. As early as 1847, the railway brought the baie de Somme closer to Paris through the station of Noyelles-sur-Mer, and the station of Le Crotoy opened on 1 July 1887 as the first stop of the Réseau des Bains de Mer. The town then acquired a casino, hotels and holiday villas. Writers and artists added to its fame: Jules Verne lived there for nearly eight years and wrote Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas; the painters Georges Seurat and Toulouse-Lautrec frequented its landscapes.
Le Crotoy stands out for a geographical peculiarity: it is the only beach on the northern coast of France facing due south, an asset long put forward. In 1910, the Caudron brothers founded there one of the very first flying schools in the world, which trained thousands of airmen until its move in 1928. The resort also drew Colette and the perfumer Guerlain, who owned houses there. Today the municipality lives on fishing, on tourism and on the closeness of the parc du Marquenterre, the bird reserve of the bay.
According to INSEE, the French national statistics institute, Le Crotoy has around 1 958 year-round inhabitants, for a far larger stock of dwellings. Second homes are in the majority, at around two dwellings in three, a proportion typical of seaside resorts and well above the national average. Main residences account for about a third of the stock. This profile steers the market towards buyers of second homes, often from the Paris region or the Hauts-de-France, looking for a pied-à-terre in the baie de Somme. The permanent population, more modest, is made up notably of retired people and local families.
The average price stands at around 5 754 €/m² in Le Crotoy, according to the DVF transactions registered before notaries. That level, high for the Somme, is explained by the demand for second homes in the baie de Somme and by the scarcity of coastal land. The average hides wide gaps between the seafront, the upper town and properties further from the beach. A precise valuation means examining the property and its location.
The seafront and the immediate surroundings of the beach, which faces due south, concentrate the most valued properties, notably the seaside villas and the apartments with a view. The upper town and the harbour district offer a more traditional setting, valued for its resort atmosphere. Moving away from the bay, inland, values become more measured. Position in relation to the sea is the first factor of price.
Yes. According to INSEE, around two dwellings in three are second homes, a share well above the national average and typical of seaside resorts. This structure shapes the market: demand comes largely from buyers looking for a pied-à-terre, which supports prices but makes the volume of transactions sensitive to the tourist climate and to household purchasing power. Main residences remain in the minority.
Le Crotoy is linked to the rail network through the station of Noyelles-sur-Mer, on the line from Paris to Boulogne, from which the heritage railway of the baie de Somme serves the resort. By car, the A16 motorway puts the municipality about two hours from Paris. This accessibility, without being immediate, sustains weekend and holiday visits, which shape a good part of local property demand.
Several factors play a part: the peculiarity of the only beach in the north of France facing due south, the appeal of the baie de Somme, ranked among the most beautiful bays in the world, the closeness of the Marquenterre bird park and the scarcity of building land by the sea. The municipality keeps a fishing activity and the life of a resort, which sustain its image. This combination of natural assets and scarcity keeps demand for second homes strong.
This analysis is published by Immover, an independent observatory founded by Antony Barbier. Data sourced from official sources (DVF, INSEE, Notaries of France).