Prime property

Wide-open Texas named No. 1 U.S. market for land sales with record-setting 2021

A record-setting 846,347 acres of Texas land changed hands in 2021.

Photo courtesy of Chas. S. Middleton and Son

Due in part to its cowboy heritage, Texas boasts lots of wide open spaces. So much so, in fact, that the Lone Star State led all of the states in land sales last year.

According to a new report from the National Association of Realtors and the Realtors Land Institute, the five states with the largest shares of land sales in 2021 were Texas (14.6 percent), Florida (12.8 percent), California (6.2 percent), Georgia (5.3 percent), and Arizona (5.2 percent).

“Even with rising interest rates, I expect sustained growth in land sales and prices this year, driven particularly by the demand for multifamily and single-family housing needs,” says Lawrence Yun, chief economist at the National Association of Realtors.

Last year, Texas recorded 9,055 land sales, according to the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University. A record-setting 846,347 acres of Texas land changed hands in 2021, up 53 percent from the previous year. That property fetched a record-breaking $3.4 billion, up 97.6 percent compared with 2020.

“It has been a strong seller’s market for ranches and land: Demand has been greater than supply, fueled in part by the pandemic and the urge to be away from urban areas,” according to Dallas-based Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International Realty, whose ranch and land business posted sales of $371 million last year.

The Realtors’ report shows sales of residential land around the country were up 6.6 percent in 2021 compared with the previous year, and sales of ranchland were up 3.5 percent.

“This continues to be the most active period in Texas land-market history,” says Charles Gilliland, an economist with the Texas Real Estate Research Center.

Underscoring Gilliland’s observation, Douglas Elliman Realty recently launched Elliman Farm and Ranch, which represents buyers and sellers of land, ranch, and farm properties in Texas and five other states.

The firm says shows like Yellowstone, 1883, and “other romantic depictions of life on the range” have helped spur interest in ranch and farm properties. (Texas' famed 6666 Ranch, recently featured on Yellowstone and reportedly the setting for a spinoff, was recently sold.)

“Given the challenges of the past two years, many of our buyers are looking for more than just a second home — they want the sense of freedom and a deeper connection with the land that farm and ranch properties offer,” says Scott Durkin, CEO of Douglas Elliman Realty.

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Million-dollar homes

Multi-million-dollar gated home community The Preserve rises in Frisco

Preserve

A palace on the prairie of The Preserve in Frisco

Construction has begun on a multi-million-dollar custom home community in Frisco. Called The Preserve, it's situated among PGA Frisco’s championship golf courses and near the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, with multiple phases that will roll out over the next few years.

The Preserve is part of Fields, a 2,500-acre development in North Frisco off the Dallas North Tollway. Fields is co-developed and owned in partnership with The Karahan Companies, Hunt Realty Investments alongside investors Chief Partners and Cross Tie Capital.

The development will feature retail, dining, entertainment, hotels, corporate offices, native Texas plants, flowers, trees, and 250 acres of park space. It's designed by the same team responsible for Plano’s Legacy West, led by Fehmi Karahan.

Phase 1 of The Preserve will feature 233 homes crafted by 10 North Texas luxury homebuilders: Alford Homes, Coats Homes, and Starside Builders have all begun home construction. The other seven are The Preserve Bella Custom Homes, Endurance Homes, Faulkner Perrin Custom Homes, Hawkins-Welwood Homes, Shaddock Custom Builders & Developers, Sharif & Munir Custom Homes, and Ventura Custom Homes, for whom construction will start soon.

The Preserve Frisco The Preserve in Frisco, soon to be covered with homes.The Preserve

Lot sizes range from 6,800 square feet to more than an acre. Home design options will incorporate high ceilings, open floor plans, glass walls, and seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor such as patios, infinity pools, and landscaped exteriors.

The surrounding area will have more than 2,000 new trees plus views delivered via design elements such as floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive outdoor living areas.

Many of the homes will address sustainability, health, and wellness with green architecture, energy efficiency, water conservation, and recycled building materials.

It will combine the privacy of a gated community with resort-style living, featuring amenities such as the PGA golf courses, 20+ miles of hike and bike trails, and the exclusive Brookside Club with an expansive swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, tennis and pickleball courts and a playground.

Prices will start at $3,500,000.

Hunt Realty SVP Todd Watson calls it one of the most anticipated mixed-use projects in the area -- æa perfect location for discerning buyers seeking their forever home or a secondary residence" — although he's involved with the project so he's probably biased.

“As part of the Fields development, with prominent neighbors like PGA of America and the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, we know The Preserve will be one of the most sought-after addresses in North Texas," Watson says.

According to the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, Frisco’s population has increased by 500 percent in two decades and was recently recognized as the fastest growing city in Texas and third across the U.S.

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