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Best Investment in
the Land
Land Ownership Offers
Unmatched Return on Investment in
Today’s Economy
November 11, 2008
(KANSAS CITY, MO) - For the millions
of Americans who have become
unsettled by recent Wall Street
losses, identifying solid
alternatives for current and future
investment has become a popular
topic of conversation. The answer is
literally right under their feet.
By planting money in land, investors
have the opportunity to take
advantage of the high
yield returns offered by the steady
growth of land values in recent
years.
A recent index from
United Country Real Estate, the
nation’s expert in recreational and
rural real estate, reveals that
since 2006, general non-urban land
values have increased by more than
27 percent. Based on United
Country’s closed land sales data,
the national price per acre average
increased from $1,691 in 2006 to
$2,142 in 2008. When compared to the
nearly 35 percent decrease on Wall
Street since 2006, land investment
has become an even more attractive
option when it comes to diversifying
the allocation of investment funds.
The following
scenario illustrates this principle.
Imagine that in 2006, two people
each had $100,000. Investor No. 1
placed his money in the stock market
and Investor No. 2 used his funds
to purchase recreational land.
Today, on average, Investor No. 1
would have seen his investment
decrease to $65,000, while Investor
No. 2 would have seen his investment
value grow to $127,000.
“What makes land an
even more attractive investment is
that unlike Wall Street investments,
land can actually be used and
enjoyed for recreational purposes
such as hunting, fishing, hiking,
camping, vacationing or as a source
of additional income by purchasing
cropland or hunting leases that
allows them to receive cash rents,”
said Dan Duffy, chief executive
officer of United Country Real
Estate.
According to Michael
Landreth, president of the REALTORS®
Land Institute (RLI), “Land is one
thing we won’t be making more of.
That’s precisely the reason land has
historically been a great long-term
investment. Now, with recent land
value increases in many parts of the
country, land has become a viable
short-term investment as well. The
two most active categories of land
in the market today seem to be farm
land and recreational properties.”
And it appears that
investors are looking at and
purchasing more rural properties.
Buyer traffic
on the United Country web site,
www.UnitedCountry.com, indicates
that purchase interest has increased
in recent months. Data through the
third quarter of 2008 reveals that
the site’s visitor sessions per
month were up 13 percent versus
third quarter 2007. Additionally,
the site’s average session length
rose by 11 percent, to an average of
23 minutes, during the same period.
According to
www.Compete.com, an independent
web traffic analytics company,
UnitedCountry.com leads the real
estate industry in session length,
edging out their closest competition
in the category by a margin of more
than 30 percent.
“These statistics
indicate more than just web
traffic,” Duffy said. “Our web site
visitors are largely comprised of
very knowledgeable and experienced
buyers, so seeing a jump in our web
statistics
is a great indicator that buyers are
showing increasing interest in the
types of properties listed by our
offices and that they recognize this
is an excellent time to consider
investing in real estate.
This growth in web traffic is also
showing up in our sales, with United
Country’s October sales surpassing
the previous two months as well as
October 2007 sales figures.”
About United Country
United Country Real
Estate is the only national real
estate franchise system specializing
in
properties in and around the small
cities and towns of America. Based
in Kansas City, Mo., the company has
been an innovator in real estate
marketing since 1925. United Country
supports more than 675 offices
nationwide with a unique,
comprehensive marketing program that
includes one of the leading web
sites in the real estate market (www.unitedcountry.com),
proprietary real estate catalogs, an
extensive buyer database and
national advertising of properties
to over 90 million homes a
week. United Country has been named
as a Top 25 Franchise by the Wall
Street Journal and among
Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise
500®. In January 2007,
the company introduced United
Country Auction Services, becoming
the nation’s largest integrated
network of traditional
real estate agents and real estate
auctioneers.
NATIONAL
HEADQUARTERS
2820 NW Barry Road, Kansas City, MO
64154
816-420-6200 www.unitedcountry.com |
