Urban Texans, possibly spurred by pandemic fears, bought up record amounts of rural land in the state last year

In an extreme example of a nationwide trend, urban Texans bought up record amounts of rural land in the state last year, possibly because of coronavirus pandemic fears. 

"A report by the Texas Real Estate Research Center said purchase of rural land in the state by city-dwelling Texans reached a record high in 2020 of 552,707 acres for a total of $1.69 billion. Across the state of Texas, there were 7,684 land sales, an increase of nearly 29 percent over the previous year," and an increase of nearly 18% from 2019, Claire Kowalick reports for the Wichita Falls Times Record News. "The average size of a land sale was 1,139 acres – a decrease of about 13% from 2019. Average price per acre increased by 3% to $3,064."

Rural areas near Austin, Waco and the Hill Country saw some of the largest increase in land sales, with sales up 85.1% over 2019, but had some of the smallest price increases. "In the third and fourth quarters, there were 1,103 sales in this area – the first time the region recorded more than 1,000 sales in a quarter," Kowalick reports. "Land prices increased in all Texas regions except the Panhandle and South Plains." Likewise, far West Texas—which was hit hard by falling oil prices—was the only region in the state to see a land sales decline.

Rural real estate prices nationwide are soaring because of city-dwellers looking to relocate during the pandemic, pressuring markets in Central Appalachia and more.