By David Cook, REALTOR, Blue Ridge Realty & Investments, LLC
We’ve looked in depth in this column at residential real estate, but we haven’t done a good deal of research on land in the High Country. For the purposes of this discussion, I’m not really talking about large tracts of land suitable for development or land that will be used for commercial purposes. But let’s talk about land that people purchase with an eye to the future; for the purpose of building their forever home as time goes by.
According to the High Country Association of REALTORS there have been 957 residential sales throughout their coverage area in the past six months. The average lot size of those sales was 2.74 acres and the median was .66 acres.
Searching just land sales for the past six months over the High Country Association of REALTORS coverage area, there were 517 sales. The smallest tract was .09 acres and the largest was 807 acres, with the average acreage being 13.76 acres and the median 1.79 acres.
Taking the same search criteria, but putting a cap of 3 acres or less reduces the results by 35% to 336 lots sold.
The lowest list price was $2500 and the lowest sold price was $1500. The highest list price was $675,000 and the highest sold price was $620,000. The average list price was $70,756 and the average sold price was $62,622. The median list price was $41,000 and the median sold price was $37,000. The minimum lot size was .09 acres and the maximum was 3 acres (the cap we put on the search). The average lot size sold was 1.17 acres and the median was .98 acres.
If we narrowed the search further, for a county by county look, the results are more revealing.
Ashe county had 85 of these 336 lot sales. Lowest list and sales price goes to Ashe county at $2500 and $1500, respectively. Highest list price was $235,000 and highest sold price was $205,000. Average list price was $37,625 and the average sold price was $33,509 (only 53% of the overall average sold price). The average lot size was 1.38 acres (slightly larger than the overall average) and the median 1.19 acres (again, slightly larger than the overall median).
Sixty-four of the lot sales belong to Avery county. Lowest list price and lowest sales price were the same at $3500. The highest list price for a lot, $675,000, and the highest sold price for a lot, $620,000, occurred in Avery county. The average list price was $120,525 and the average sold price was $108,096 (73% more than the overall average for lots sold in the past six months). The average lot size was 1.16 acres (right in line with the overall average) and the median was .89 acres.
The lion’s share of the lots sold in the past six months were in Watauga county. The smallest lot sold was .11 acres, and the largest was 2.89 acres with the average being .89 and the median .69 acres. Lowest list and sales price were $3000. Highest list price was $595,000 and highest sold price was $500,000. The average list price was $76,940 and the average sold price was $67,483.
The remainder of the lot sales were spread throughout other counties covered by the High Country Association of REALTORS, but as you can see, the majority belonged to Ashe, Avery and Watauga counties.
While we continue to see a healthy residential sales market, hopefully, this little review of lots shows there’s a lot to be said for purchasing land as well as homes.
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