Chaulk Talk – Wayne Chaulk – Nov 2021

Market Review – Acreage Sales – Foothills County – 2019, 2020, 2021

Below is a review & summary of acreage sales (not including raw land) in the Foothills County pre-pandemic to September 30, 2021 which I have done to see if any noteworthy patterns evolved, and they certainly did. The review reflects a significant increase in sales in all price sectors over the 3 years 2019 -2021 with a noticeable increase in the sales in the upper price ranges year to year.

I chose April 1 to Sept 30 in each year as these are historically the busiest months for acreage sales. There were sales in the other months as well but since we are only at Sept 30 this year I cannot compare ‘end of year’ numbers yet. That will be another interesting exercise at the end of 2021 and I suspect the numbers will still show year to year increases across all price ranges up to the end of year comparisons.

The review shows an increase in all price ranges year to year and large overall percentage increases across all sectors. So it seems clear that despite major concerns when COVID started in 2020 that real estate could decline significantly, the complete opposite happened in the country! Furthermore, there were significant price increases over the 2 years 2020 and 2021 in all price categories as well, up 10% or more in most categories compared to 2019 and particularly in 2021 as demand peaked. There were notable increases in product sales over the $1M range since 2019 as many of the more expensive acreages were struggling somewhat to sell in 2018 and 2019.

I suspect all sales level increases were due to a new interest among people desiring to move to the country to likely get away from the city pressure of COVID restrictions and people feeling more confined to their homes and desiring more family space, privacy and a country acreage lifestyle. These moves were also likely supported by continuing low interest rates.

Wayne Chaulk
Real Estate Agent 
www.chaulkrealestate.com