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If you had purchased 20 acres of land 10 years ago in the so-called swamps and cow pastures of Texas, you would be able to retire wealthy today. Ten years ago, 1 acre of land cost $2,000 - $5000. Today, the same acre of land is valued at $100,000 - $400,000. |
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State of Texas is now leasing land from owners and drilling for oil. (“Texas Oil Boom Returns.” CNBC Business news 10/19/2006). Details and references.
Oil Daily Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Fleets of drilling rigs, looking from a distance like miniature Eiffel Towers, sprouted across the rolling dusty prairies, cotton fields and ranchlands. Unfortunately, their search for oil deposits of the size and scale of those found in the past was all for naught. The thousands of wells drilled across the 75,000 square-mile Permian Basin yielded only incremental reserves. The giant fields all had been found. |
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Bezos' Seattle-based Blue Origin suborbital space venture is starting the process to build an aerospace testing and operations center on a portion of the Corn Ranch, a 165,000-acre spread that the 41-year-old billionaire purchased north of Van Horn, Texas. Over the next six or seven years, the team would use the facility to test components for a craft that could take off and land vertically, carrying three or more riders to the edge of space.
Blue Origin's team has been laying the groundwork for the hush-hush project from a 53,000-square-foot warehouse in Seattle, but this week's announcement fills out a puzzle that previously could only be guessed on the basis of isolated rumors. Blue Origin has been the most secretive of several space ventures bankrolled by deep-pocketed private backers — a club that also includes software pioneer Paul Allen (SpaceShipOne), Virgin Group entrepreneur Richard Branson (Virgin Galactic) and video-game genius John Carmack (Armadillo Aerospace). |
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Texas land prices continue to rise - Austin Business Journal:
From the Gulf Coast to the panhandle, Texas land prices are going up fast.
According to the latest data from the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas land prices have risen by an average of 15 percent. During the first three quarters of 2004, land prices statewide rose from $1,087 to $1,252 per acre for the same period a year earlier. "The rate of increase in prices paid for Texas land continues to amaze me," says Charles Gilliland, research economist with the Texas A&M center.
"Recreational buyers are snapping up quality properties wherever they can find them. Investors have a buy now attitude as they expect interest rates will rise and because returns on alternative investments have not been too exciting. These factors have driven price gains well beyond levels seen in the past." According to the center, 20 of the 33 Texas land market areas posted significant increases in average price per acre.
In the Hill Country, urban dwellers seeking a retreat from the hustle and bustle of city life are driving up prices. But some see Hill Country land as a solid investment. And a limited supply of good land on the market is causing prices to go up. In fact, in the western portion of the Hill Country, prices are up 27 percent compared with 2003.
The Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University has provided research for more than 30 years. Funded primarily by Texas real estate licensee fees, the center was created by the state legislature to meet the needs of the real estate industry, instructors, researchers and the general public. |
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Preliminary analysis of land sales reported in first-half 2006 reveals that intense demand for acreage continues to drive Texas markets, raising prices to record levels.
Recreation- and investment-minded buyers boosted the median price of an acre of Texas land to $1,681, 18 percent more than the 2005 first-half median of $1,423 per acre (Figure 1). Final 2006 figures will likely show Texas markets posted more than a 10 percent increase for the fourth straight year.
But when it comes to land prices, how high is too high? Is now a good time to buy Texas land?
Rapid price increases have prompted market participants to wonder if a "correction" is in the offing. By adjusting prices over the past 40 years to their equivalent values in 2006 dollars, the answers become clearer. |
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