Following unprecedented rural land sales in 2021, the year ended with a surprising slowdown. Total land sales for 2021 surpassed 2020 by 17 percent. That was despite a fourth quarter with 953 fewer sales than the same period of 2020, according to a report by the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University.

In fourth quarter 2021, Texas recorded 1,283 rural land sales, significantly fewer than the 2,236 sales in fourth quarter 2020.

“There were 9,055 Texas land sales in 2021,” said Dr. Charles Gilliland, research economist with the Texas Real Estate Research Center. “Fourth quarter 2020 was crazy.  So anything near normal looks pretty calm by comparison. The fourth quarter 2021 drop may just be the result of a lack of inventory to sell.”

The report says the uptick in demand for land, coupled with a dearth of listings, pushed prices up a remarkable 29 percent to $3,954 per acre statewide and total dollar volume reached a record $3.4 billion, up 97.6 percent over 2020.

“Facts suggest Texas land markets may be returning to a more normal level of activity. On the other hand, despite the smaller number of fourth quarter sales, brokers report they are still very busy working with numerous prospective buyers,” he said. “Some brokers even see activity picking up.”