For the first time, small land sales in Texas exceeded $1 billion in total dollar volume in 2017, according to the Texas Small Land Sales Report released today by the Texas REALTORS®.
“In recent years, small land sales have been a strong indicator of a healthy overall real estate market,” said Kaki Lybbert, chairman of the Texas REALTORS®. “With land sales increasing and price-per-acre declining slightly, we’re seeing a solid market for small land purchases for a wide range of uses, including recreation, residential, investment, commercial development and farm land.”
There were 7,588 small land tracts sold in Texas, an 8.5% annual increase and the fifth-straight year of increasing sales volume. In the same timeframe, the average price per acre declined 2.2% to $5,521. The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University generally defines a small land sale as one of 200 acres or less, with the exception being Far West Texas where 500 to 8,000 acres qualifies as a small land sale.
“Statewide, the price per acre for small land sales decreased slightly from 2016 to 2017,” said Charles Gilliland, an economist with the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. “This could be an indication that buyers are seeking out bargains in lower priced locations in popular regions. For example, the Hill Country saw less land sale activity in Travis County compared to Comanche County, where price per acre between the two differ.”
So would a 5 or 10 acre transaction be considered a small land sale? Or might this deserve a different categorization? Outside of Houston going north, northeast and southwest we are seeing a boom of rural land purchases of this type.