Rural property owners in Central Texas came out ahead in land values in 2009, compared to other areas of the state.

While rural land values in the state dropped about 7 percent last year, a nine-county area including McLennan County saw rural tracts increase 6 percent in value, according to data from the Texas A&M University Real Estate Center.

The median price per acre was $3,029 in the area, compared to the state median of $2,086.

Land and ranch real estate agent David Harris Sr., of Legacy Approved Properties in Waco, visits a corn field near Lorena, which his company has listed.
Duane A. Laverty/Waco Tribune-Herald

The median price is the price where half the properties considered are sold for more and the other half are sold for less.

The area is comprised of McLennan, Bosque, Hill, Coryell, Falls, Freestone, Hill, Limestone and Navarro counties.

A separate category from rural, called strictly agricultural land, has held or increased in value statewide, said Charles Gilliland, research economist with the Real Estate Center.

In McLennan County, no significant change has been seen in agricultural land value since at least 2007, according to the A&M Real Estate Center data.

The center does not supply a county-level breakout of its data.

But David Harris Sr., a broker associate with Legacy Approved Properties in Waco, said he saw farm and ranch land values coming up in McLennan County.

Trey Hallmark, a broker for DuPerier Texas Landman, which sells land statewide, said properties in the northern sections of Central Texas had land values increased by drilling deals in the Barnett Shale, a natural-gas-rich rock lying under north and north-central Texas.

“Gentleman ranches” — for individuals seeking recreational use and who are willing to pay a premium for land — also are bringing up values for some properties, Hallmark said.

He said agricultural properties with free-flowing water will bring a good price, too.

Despite the Real Estate Center figures noting an increase in values, Hallmark said, overall, the market in McLennan County and surrounding counties is stagnant — without any major increases in prices and unmotivated sellers able to wait out buyers unwilling to make a purchase at the prices asked.

Harris said those who own farmland and lease it to farmers are realizing a good cash flow from those properties.

“Cattle brings in income and so does leasing property to others to farm,” he said.

Farmland is often targeted by corporate investors, including pension funds and insurance companies, as a good buy, Gilliland said.

“Farmland is in demand right now,” he said. “There is a strong demand from institutional investors.”

John Restivo, owner of A-1 Fire and Security in Waco, owns 426 acres of land in Lorena that he leases for hunting and cattle.

He recently had some other tracts ranging up to 600 acres, which he sold.

The real estate market was flat and it seemed a good time to sell, Restivo said.

He’s back in a buying mood and considering the purchase of some additional property for leasing, he said.

Agricultural land investment is generally a good move, Restivo said, when bought for leasing or minerals such as oil and gas. Overhead and maintenance is low, and income is steady, he said.

bteeter@wacotrib.com

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PALISADE, Colo. – Betty Blue, Ms. Katherine and Empress wave their bee-circled flowers in an early morning breeze, wafting the clean scent of lavender across the landscape.

Fields of these fragrant, fancifully named lavender plants are gaining popularity in Colorado, popping up alongside orchards and vineyards, and on hay and corn fields all across the state.

Colorado boasts more than 20 commercial lavender growers. A year ago, there were about four.

A lavender association is in its second year of promoting the benefits of lavender and educating growers. The group is planning the state’s first lavender festival next summer in Palisade.

Lavender, a plant in the mint family popular for its beauty as well as the relaxing properties of its scent, has long been linked to Provence, France.

But lavender “regions” have been blooming in areas of the United States with the hot, dry, sunny climates and poor soils that lavender favors.

The Texas Hill Country and northern New Mexico have some of the country’s most active established lavender industries.

Sequim, Wash., located in an unusually dry part of the state, lays claim to the title of lavender capital of the country, with its dozens of lavender farms and an annual festival.

“It’s a whole new industry for Colorado,” said Kathy Kimbrough, founder of the Lavender Association of Western Colorado.

“We have high hopes that this also has potential as an alternative crop for Colorado,” said Susan Rose, horticulture education specialist at the Colorado State University extension office.