Land tends to go for a premium out here due to our urban growth boundaries. Despite that I was surprised at the data that came out of this run.
Average and Median Sales Prices for Bare Land in Salem Oregon
The average price for land was $667,733 up 27% from 2007 and the median price was $303,000 up 16.6%.
After running this data, I ran the cost per acre and the average cost per acre of land was $135,775 in 2008 which was up 28.7% from 2007 and up 204% from 2006 where the average cost per acre was $44,603.
What is the cause of this big spike?
Nothing really. I think it’s an anomaly that really isn’t reflective of the true market and here’s why. In 2006 55 bare lots sold, some good, some not so good. In 2007 and 2008 with the market slowdowns and economic forecasts, only really great lots sold. The good well-priced premium properties are the ones that are selling. In 2007, only 25 parcels sold, and in 2008 only 15.
Like anything, good land is still desired, but there aren’t any buyers to purchase the other stuff and normalize the averages. I still wanted to present this data to you, even though I think the numbers are skewed because many people ask about land here in Oregon on a regular basis.