2014 Edition of Texas Small Land Sales Report Released
By: Texas Vlb
Tags: Texas, Veterans, Land, Report, Property

2014 Edition of Texas Small Land Sales Report Released

If you’re a Texas Veteran contemplating the purchase of Texas land, take a moment to look over the 2014 Texas Small Land Sales Report, recently released by the Texas Association of REALTORS® (TAR) and the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University. This is the first edition of this publication.

The data in this report is an overview on small land sale trends across Texas and shows that this particular market is still on the upswing. The report shows the direction of land sales in each of the seven regions of Texas. Because of the various physical characteristics of the different regions, the terms “small” and “large” have somewhat different meanings, but generally 200 hundred acres or less is deemed to be a “small land sale.” Region 2, which includes the Far West Texas, Big Bend and Trans-Pecos areas, is atypical in that 500 to 8,000 acres can qualify as a small land sale.

The total number of small land sales in Texas in 2013 was 4,189, almost four times the number of small land sales in 2012. The median tract size was 77 acres in 2012, but decreased to 20 acres in 2013. The average price per acre statewide in 2013 was $4,849, this is more than twice the average price per acre for the general land market in 2012, which was $2,295.

“We’ve long suspected that trends in land sales may differ between small and large tracts and the findings in this report confirm that. Few buyers possess the resources required to purchase large tracts while many more have the capital needed to buy smaller properties. This higher demand often results in small properties exchanging for a higher price per acre than larger neighboring tracts of comparable quality” said Dr. Charles Gilliland, a research economist with the Real Estate Center.

The report details small land sale statistics and general data for each of the seven regions in 2013. For example, in Region 7, which includes Austin, Waco and the surrounding Hill Country, the average price per acre was $6,900. This region also had the highest sales volume of small land tracts with 1,392 properties sold which equals 33.23 percent of the small lands sales statewide. People are looking for smaller parcels of land for recreational use, or to have a second home in the country, away from the ever increasing urban populations of Austin, San Antonio and other cities growing along the IH-35 corridor.

According to George Clift, president of the REALTORS® Land Institute and a Texas REALTOR® active in land sales in Region 1, which includes the Panhandle and South Plains, the focus for many buyers is on income-producing land tracts that can be used as tax-deferred investments.

Whether you’re looking for land for recreational purposes or as an investment, the Texas Veterans Land Board can help you reach your goal with our Land Loan Program exclusively for Texas Veterans, military members and their spouses. To get started please visit TexasVeterans.com to fill out an online pre-qualification application. If you have any questions please contact our Texas Veterans Call Service Center at 1–800–252-VETS (8387) or send us an email.