North Dakota Bucks the Recession
December 6, 2008 by Eric OKeefe
The rest of the U.S. may have fallen into a recession, but at the north end of the Great Plains a robust economy and a tight labor supply is keeping North Dakota humming. Unemployment rate? Holding steady at 3.4 percent. New car sales? Up 27 percent. Foreclosure rate? Among the nation’s lowest. And the primary legislative budget issue? What do with a $1.2 billion surplus. What about land prices?
In 2008, land values increased 18 percent, up for the ninth straight year, to $765 per acre, according to the North Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service. Since 2004, when farmland prices equaled the 1982 record average of $455 per acre, a new record has been set every year, said Brian Kugel, a statistician with the North Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service.
Among the reasons being cited are strong farm commodity prices and a surge in oil production.
Nationally, farm real estate values averaged a record $2,350 per acre in January, up about 9 percent from 2007, according to the USDA. The agency cited strong commodity prices, farm programs, and tax incentives among the reasons for the increase.
More specifics on North Dakota land values can be found in this article from the Bismarck Tribune. A good overview of the overall picture in the Sioux State can be found in Saturday’s New York Times.
More Field Reports From The Land Report:- Ask the Expert: Andy Smyth
Andy Smyth is a straight-speaking man, runs a great brokerage business in Idaho, and has become a good partner with The Land Report. Andy recently told me that after... - Texas Land Values Drop Just 7% in 2009
The Texas land market saw bargain hunters staring down unmotivated sellers throughout 2009. The end result, according to Charles Gilliland and Abhijeet Gunadekar at the Texas Real Estate Center,... - Northeastern Landowners Get $165M For Natural Gas Rights
A coalition of landowners in one of the country’s emerging natural gas hot spots has reached an agreement to lease 30,000 acres to Fortuna Energy for natural gas drilling... - Sold! Steamboat’s Perry Ranch
A well-known Rocky Mountain landmark, Colorado’s 470-acre Perry Ranch, sold for $11 million ($23,000+ per acre). The sellers paid $13 million for the Routt County ranch in 2007 intending... - Ask the Expert: Scott Jones
The second session of the 111th Congress is already under way, and landowners have a lot at stake. With that in mind, The Land Report turns to Scott Jones...
News Feed
