Looking for recreational land for sale in Sarthe (72) means looking at a department of hedgerows and forests, under an hour from Paris by TGV from Le Mans, where small non-buildable plots are still plentiful: meadows along the Loir or the Huisne, oak and chestnut woods on the edge of the Bercé forest, ponds in the Perche sarthois or the Saosnois. On this page, ma-propriete.fr gathers the listings of recreational land for sale in Sarthe: a plot with a cabin, woodland with a pond, an enclosed meadow with access and a water point, fishing or hunting land.
You will find price benchmarks drawn from actual sales, an overview of the areas where these plots are concentrated and the points to check before buying a parcel in an agricultural or natural zone. Before any viewing, go through our guide on how to turn agricultural land into recreational land: it sums up what the PLU tolerates, what it forbids and the formalities to expect.
There is no such thing as a "recreational land price" in the French notarial records: the DVF database records sales of agricultural land, woodland and ponds, and a recreational plot is priced against these three benchmarks, higher or lower depending on what it adds (vehicle access, a water point, fencing, an existing shelter, a village nearby). The table below gives, for each benchmark, the sales recorded in 2025 in Sarthe (72), the median price and the range between the first decile (floor) and the ninth decile (ceiling), with the national figure for comparison.
| DVF 2025 benchmark | Sales | Median price | Range (P10 – P90) | France median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bare agricultural land (€/ha) | 346 | €4,245/ha | €3,000/ha – €6,535/ha | €5,307/ha |
| Woodland (€/ha) | 111 | €5,168/ha | €3,500/ha – €8,894/ha | €4,934/ha |
| Pond (€/m²) * | 53 | €2.19/m² | €0.82/m² – €5.46/m² | €2.54/m² |
Bare agricultural land is well below the national median (€5,307/ha), with the median price moving -2.6% between 2020 and 2025. Woodland trades close to the national benchmark (€4,934/ha), and a pond, a much rarer asset, is valued per square metre of water and banks. To compare a listing, bring everything back to the square metre: €4,245/ha of bare land is €0.42/m², against €2.19/m² for a pond. Recreational land, almost always classified as an agricultural or natural zone, generally sells slightly above bare agricultural land; but it usually remains subject to the SAFER land agency's right of pre-emption, and the SAFER may pre-empt with a downward price revision if the price is excessive compared with local land prices. These benchmarks therefore also help you avoid paying a price the SAFER would challenge.
Find the detail by department, plot size and year in our agricultural land price observatory and in the forest price observatory. Source: DVF (Demandes de valeurs foncières), 2025 sales, processed by ma-propriete.fr; medians published from 30 sales upwards. * Fewer than 30 sales in the department: the benchmark shown is the regional figure for "Pond".
Sarthe is a bocage department: the typical plot is a meadow of a few thousand square metres, lined with oak and chestnut hedges, often with an old farm access and sometimes a pond. Such meadows are found everywhere, from the Maine normand in the north to the edge of the Baugeois in the south, and make up most of the supply of non-constructible land. Then come the woods: small stands and coppices of oak, chestnut and pine around the large forests of Bercé, Perseigne and Sillé, sought after for firewood, hunting and quiet.
Ponds are the third family, the rarest and the most expensive per square metre: stretches of water in the Perche sarthois towards La Ferté-Bernard and Vibraye, ponds in the Saosnois and the Braye valley, enlarged farm ponds in the bocage. Many of these plots are sold with an existing shelter, a fishing cabin or an old barn, whose legal status must be checked before buying.
The Perche sarthois, around La Ferté-Bernard, Vibraye, Montmirail and Saint-Calais, has the highest concentration of plots with a pond and hillside woods; it is the area most in demand from Paris-based buyers, reached by the A11 motorway and the La Ferté-Bernard railway station. The Loir valley, from Château-du-Loir to Le Lude and La Flèche, offers valley-bottom meadows, riverbanks and wooded slopes. In the north-west, the Alpes mancelles around Fresnay-sur-Sarthe and Saint-Léonard-des-Bois, and the Sillé-le-Guillaume forest, attract buyers of rolling, wooded land. Around Le Mans, served by the TGV from Paris-Montparnasse in under an hour, plots are scarcer and prices higher.
The most affordable areas remain the south-east of the department, towards Bessé-sur-Braye and Saint-Calais, and the north around Mamers and Bonnétable, where pressure on land is low. Meadows close to well-equipped villages, banks of the Loir and plots with a pond in the Perche sarthois sell well above the departmental average.
The first step is to read the commune's local planning document (PLU): in an agricultural (A) or natural (N) zone, any new building is in principle prohibited, and a cabin, a chalet or a light leisure dwelling cannot be installed freely. Parking a caravan or a mobile home for more than a few months is also regulated. An existing shelter is only an asset if it was properly authorised; otherwise it may have to be removed. Also check access to the plot (rural track, right of way, landlocked parcel), the presence of water and electricity, which is very rare outside villages, and flood zones along the Loir, the Huisne and the Sarthe.
On parcels classified as agricultural, the SAFER land agency may exercise its right of pre-emption, which lengthens the sale. A pond requires knowing its status under the French water law, the condition of the dam and the outlet, and the maintenance obligations. Finally, ask for the exact cadastral area and whether the boundaries have been surveyed: on low-value plots, notary and surveyor fees weigh proportionally heavily.
The listings of recreational land in Sarthe published on ma-propriete.fr come from private sellers, estate agents and notaries. Filter by area, price and the presence of a pond, then set up an e-mail alert to be notified of new plots. You can also widen your search to recreational land for sale in Pays de la Loire.
