Looking for a country house for sale in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04)? Between the Durance valley, the Valensole plateau and the Verdon gorges, the department offers typical Provençal architecture: a limestone bastide under a curved-tile roof, a hilltop hamlet with open views, a farmhouse to renovate on several hectares. This page brings together the country houses for sale in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence published on ma-propriete.fr by private sellers, estate agents and notaries.
To help you decide, we present the actual prices of country houses in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (notarised sales 2020-2025), the areas worth knowing from Manosque to Digne-les-Bains, and the criteria that determine the value of a house in the countryside. Our complete guide to buying a country house in France completes these benchmarks, from surveying an old building to financing.
How much does a country house cost in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04)? According to DVF data (notarised sales) analysed by the ma-propriete.fr observatory, the median price of a country house in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04) stood at €260,000 in 2025, with an average price of €267,410 and a median price of €2,745/m² of living space (553 house sales in rural municipalities over the year). The price range is wide: 10% of houses sold for less than €154,200 (floor price, 1st decile) and 10% for more than €381,754 (ceiling price, 9th decile). The typical country house here offers 101 m² of living space on an average plot of 3,465 m², i.e. around 0.3 ha.
This market is well below the regional median (Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur: €360,000) and well above the national median (€189,200). Since the second half of 2020, the median price has risen from €220,000 to €260,000, i.e. +18.2%; over one year (2024-2025) the change is +0.0%.
| 2025 indicator | Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | France |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median price | €260,000 | €360,000 | €189,200 |
| Average price | €267,410 | €401,500 | €207,100 |
| Floor price (1st decile) | €154,200 | €215,000 | €90,000 |
| Ceiling price (9th decile) | €381,754 | €650,000 | €340,000 |
| Median price per m² of living space | €2,745/m² | €3,469/m² | €1,830/m² |
| Average living space | 101 m² | 112 m² | 108 m² |
| Average plot size | 3,465 m² | 3,324 m² | 3,181 m² |
| Number of sales in 2025 | 553 | 4,532 | 150,313 |
A departmental average hides large gaps. A smallholding to renovate, a restored longère with its outbuildings, a farmhouse on several hectares of land or a manor house with parkland do not sell at the same price, and the location matters as much as the building: coastline, tourist area, peri-urban countryside close to a job market or deep countryside. The table below shows the median price of country houses in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04) by type of municipality (cumulative sales from mid-2020 to 2025) and its change between 2021 and 2025.
| Type of municipality | Median price 2020-2025 | Median price per m² | Change 2021-2025 | Sales 2020-2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tourist coastline * | €230,000 | €2,518/m² | +4.9% | 62 |
| Inland tourist areas (hinterland, mountains) | €238,500 | €2,518/m² | +11.4% | 1,370 |
| Peri-urban countryside (city catchment area) | €276,950 | €2,899/m² | +3.0% | 714 |
| Deep countryside (outside urban influence) | €254,950 | €2,559/m² | +7.7% | 1,105 |
* Between 30 and 99 sales: indicative value.
Note: in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04), the municipalities classified as "coastline" have no access to the sea. They are municipalities bordering lakes of more than 1,000 hectares (or, in Eure, the Seine estuary) covered by the 1986 Loi Littoral, which also applies to such inland lakes and estuaries.
These benchmarks help you assess a listing, estimate a property before putting it up for sale, or set your budget for a holiday home or a permanent move to the French countryside. To go further, see our observatory of country house prices in France (national, regional and departmental analysis, downloadable annual report) and work out the full cost of your purchase, including French notary fees, with our notary fees calculator.
The typical Alpes-de-Haute-Provence country house is the bastide, built of stone, often set on restanques — cultivation terraces held by dry-stone walls — under a curved-tile roof. Further inland, around Seyne-les-Alpes or Colmars-les-Alpes, altitude brings steeper roofs and sometimes lauze stone-slab elements, closer to alpine building styles. Around Forcalquier and Mane, grand eighteenth-century bastides sit alongside more modest mas, all built from the same local limestone quarried on site. Further north, towards Seyne-les-Alpes, alpine influence also shows in balconies and roof frames built of larch.
The land around these bastides frequently includes an olive or almond orchard, a terraced garden and stone outbuildings (sheepfold, cabanon, bread oven). Many properties stand alone or are grouped in a hamlet, with open views over lavender hills or nearby gorges. Restanques, whether well maintained or overrun by scrubland depending on the property, may need a renovation budget if the buyer wants to bring them back into cultivation. A well or a spring catchment, common on these isolated plots, should be checked for flow rate and water quality. A dovecote tower, once a mark of status for the local landowner, still stands on some larger estates.
The Durance valley, around Manosque and Forcalquier, on the doorstep of the Luberon, has the most active and most expensive market in the department, less than an hour from the Aix-en-Provence TGV station. Digne-les-Bains, the county town surrounded by hills, and the Valensole plateau, known for its lavender fields, offer a more rural setting. The Valensole plateau, between Riez and Valensole itself, combines isolated bastides and farming hamlets amid the lavender fields, with strong seasonal tourism in summer. Sisteron, a gateway between Provence and the southern Alps, offers convenient regional train access to Aix-en-Provence and Marseille. Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban, along the Durance, offers a more affordable alternative close to the same amenities.
Towards the Verdon gorges and Castellane, or in the high mountain valleys around Seyne-les-Alpes, country houses trade at noticeably more affordable prices than around Manosque, in exchange for more difficult winter access and fewer nearby services. The Verdon area, around Moustiers-Sainte-Marie and Lake Sainte-Croix, attracts second-home buyers despite its rugged terrain, while the Ubaye valley, more remote to the east, remains the most affordable part of the department for a mas in need of renovation.
Proximity to the Durance and to Aix-en-Provence remains the most decisive factor, ahead of the condition of the building: the dry-stone walls of old bastides call for careful checking of rising damp and of the curved-tile roof, which is sensitive to frost at altitude. The presence of well-maintained or neglected restanques also affects land value. Forest fire risk, high in summer across scrubland and pine-covered hills, requires mandatory vegetation clearance around isolated buildings. Old bastides built directly on bedrock can also suffer from rising damp where the ground is poorly drained.
Check the private drainage system, the water supply (well, spring, tank), fibre-optic coverage for remote working and the local planning zoning in agricultural or natural areas, common for this type of isolated property. Also check the seismic zoning, moderate but real in this alpine area, along with winter access to hilltop hamlets, sometimes limited by snow around Seyne-les-Alpes or Colmars-les-Alpes.
On ma-propriete.fr, filter Alpes-de-Haute-Provence country houses by budget, living space and land area, set up an email alert so you never miss a new listing, and if needed widen your search to all country houses for sale in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Comparing the Durance valley with the more remote Verdon or Ubaye areas often reveals a wide price gap for a similar bastide with restanque terraces. Prices can vary noticeably even between neighbouring hamlets.
