Times Keep Changing
By Jim Palmer Jr.

We have all watched the steady and steep trajectory of land and home prices climb to a point where we wonder if that growth can be sustained.  Times always change of course, but this inflationary cycle is something we really have not seen before in terms of drastic price increases in such a short amount of time. 

In a recent Facebook post a subscriber lamented at what they are seeing happen in rural areas by exclaiming “Farmers need to quit selling their big parcels to developers who are going to turn all of that beautiful land into a subdivision!” 

My questions to this person were, “Is it the fault of the farmer who’s grown kids don’t want to work the farm anymore, so he’s selling the ground at retail prices in order to have enough money to retire comfortably? (Could another farmer pay those prices and make a farming operation pencil?) Is it the fault of the developer who takes the risk of paying more than he should for the land in order to keep cranking out more product for eager consumers who are clamoring for a place to live?  Or is it the fault of the consumers who are willing to pay exorbitant prices for their new homes in the country, (mostly because they can’t find any inventory of existing homes)?”

I sympathize with that Facebook user’s lamentation! I also find it sad to see this irreversible development trend that is turning large tracts of open farm ground into subdivisions. The wide open spaces we have come to know and love will never be the same again.

Along with that trend, I often hear from neighbors of these adjoining farms who call because they see the For Sale signs go up.  They’d like to buy it and add a buffer to their place, but when they hear the listed price their reaction is predictable.  “I’d never pay that kind of a price for that property!” they exclaim in surprise as they experience sticker shook.  “They’ll never get that much for that piece of worthless dirt!”

The very next week, one of those pent-up-buyers steps up and offers full price, and next day another, and a few days later another, until the old homestead is now a subdivision.  The real estate brokers often take the blame for this unfortunate phenomenon, but that misguided blame game is not as simple as that.