FOR LAND’S SAKE TEXAS LAND MARKET

Land ownership requires a solid understanding of a range of issues, including conservation and management of the land’s natural resources, navigation of sometimes complex land sales, energy issues, water concerns, state laws impacting land usage, and the general economy. Here are key takeaways from the Texas Real Estate Research Center’s recent annual land market outlook conference.

General Market Outlook

Federal Reserve interest rate policy is driving the rural land market’s economic environment.

Land transaction prices continue to rise, but the volume of land sales is declining, so it’s taking longer to sell. Sellers of good quality land still find eager buyers, but sellers of inferior quality land may face declining interest.

The continuing shortage of land for sale suggests land prices will continue to rise this year.

Dr. Charles Gilliland & Dr. Lynn Krebs research economists Texas Real Estate Research Center

Conservation

Texas has roughly $350 million in tax incentives for wildlife management lands and $7 billion overall for open-space lands. This amounts to about $50/acre in incentives.

Because Texas is a private-lands state, ag, timber, and wildlife tax valuations are the state’s most wide-reaching and cost-efficient conservation incentives.

The wildlife management valuation law fills an essential conservation need because its incentive is strongest on marginal agricultural lands in highgrowth areas of the state, which are often ecologically important and at the greatest risk of land conversion (e.g., the Edwards Plateau/Hill Country).

Shane J. Kiefer CEO Plateau Land & Wildlife

Carbon Sequestration

Carbon sequestration “is the biggest gold rush the land industry has seen in a long time.”

Richard R. Lonquist Lonquist & Co. LLC