Looking for recreational land for sale in Yvelines (78) means searching in a department where the proximity of Paris drives up demand: the forêt de Rambouillet and its edges, the upper Chevreuse valley, the plain of Versailles around Houdan and Montfort-l'Amaury, the Seine loops and the Vexin français to the north. Small agricultural or wooded plots do exist, hay meadows, broadleaf woods, land bordered by a stream or a small river, but they are sought after both by Paris-based buyers looking for a patch of countryside and by farmers, which keeps prices high. On this page, ma-propriete.fr gathers the listings of recreational land for sale in Yvelines: enclosed meadows, woodland with track access, riverside or streamside plots.
You will find price benchmarks drawn from actual sales, an overview of where these plots are concentrated and the precautions to take before buying a parcel classified as agricultural or natural, where the possibility of building or installing a shelter remains tightly restricted. Before going further, read our guide on how to turn agricultural land into recreational land, which explains what the local planning rules actually allow.
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 Yvelines (78), 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) | 36 | €7,398/ha | €5,518/ha – €9,274/ha | €5,307/ha |
| Woodland (€/ha) * | 107 | €6,223/ha | €3,412/ha – €12,416/ha | €4,934/ha |
| Pond (€/m²) * | 313 | €2.54/m² | €1.03/m² – €6.90/m² | €2.54/m² |
Bare agricultural land is well above the national median (€5,307/ha), with the median price moving +10.2% between 2020 and 2025. Woodland trades well above 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: €7,398/ha of bare land is €0.74/m², against €2.54/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 "Woodland"; national figure for "Pond".
In Yvelines, most recreational plots are meadows from former farming use, often lined with a hedge or a fence, with direct access from a rural track. They are found both in the plain of Versailles and in the Vexin français, where the landscape remains open farmland. Woods, meanwhile, are concentrated around the large forests, forêt de Rambouillet, forêt de Marly, woodland in the Chevreuse valley: small broadleaf plots, sometimes with a cabin used for hunting or fishing, sought after for their quiet more than for timber.
Plots with a pond remain exceptional in the department: enlarged farm ponds do exist, but a genuine stretch of water for sale is a rare find, at both regional and national level. Woods also change hands in limited numbers each year, which narrows the choice for anyone looking for a specific wooded plot, in the Vexin or around the forêt de Rambouillet, and often means widening the search to neighbouring departments.
The Vexin français, in the north of the department around Magny-en-Vexin and the Aubette valley, still offers meadows and a few woods on the edge of large cereal fields, in a more open landscape than the rest of Yvelines. The upper Chevreuse valley, around Chevreuse, Dampierre and Rambouillet, concentrates wooded plots and meadows bordered by a stream, in a hilly setting much sought after by Parisians. To the west, the Houdan and Montfort-l'Amaury area, between farmland and bocage, keeps grazing meadows accessible from the RN12 road. Towards Mantes-la-Jolie and the Seine loops, plots become scarcer, as the valley is largely urbanised or classified as a flood zone.
The upper Chevreuse valley and the edges of the forêt de Rambouillet are among the most sought-after and therefore most expensive areas of the department, driven by their proximity to Paris and Versailles. The Houdan area and the Vexin français, further from fast roads, remain comparatively more affordable, without reaching the levels seen in more remote rural departments.
As everywhere in Île-de-France, reading the commune's local planning document is essential: in an agricultural (A) or natural (N) zone, no new building is in principle allowed, and installing a cabin, a chalet or a light leisure dwelling remains tightly restricted, or even forbidden depending on the commune. The Vexin français and parts of the Chevreuse valley fall partly within a regional nature park, adding rules to protect the landscape and natural heritage. Also check access to the plot, often via a rural track or a right of way, and the presence of water and electricity, rare outside hamlets.
On parcels classified as agricultural, the SAFER land agency may exercise its right of pre-emption, with a risk of the price being revised down if it strays too far from local land values. Along the Seine, the Mauldre or the Yvette, some plots are exposed to flood risk, which is worth checking before any plan to build a shelter or plant trees.
The listings of recreational land in Yvelines published on ma-propriete.fr come from private sellers, estate agents and notaries. Filter by area, price or the presence of a water feature, 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 Île-de-France.
