By Mary Prenon
Land prices across the United States over the last decade seem to be following the path of home prices, according to an April 21 report from Realtor.com.
In its first-ever land listing analysis, the national real estate listing database found that prices per acre have escalated by 76.6 percent from the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2026, while inventory has declined by 23.6 percent over the same period. During the first quarter of 2026, there were 426,986 land listings recorded, with a median price of $62,365 per acre.
“The pandemic didn’t only drain home inventory, it drained land inventory, and that loss is permanent,” Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner said in the report. “When a builder develops a parcel, that land never returns to the market.”
Berner added that until the development pipeline catches up, neither land prices nor inventory will change, and as a result, future new construction could be more costly.
Raw land with no prior development has appreciated the most of any category, rising by 86.5 percent since the first quarter of 2019. Building-ready listings have shown the smallest growth, but are still up by 53.3 percent.
Regionally, land prices have accelerated the most in the Northeast, showing a 101.5 percent increase from the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2026. At the end of March, land in the region was selling for a median price of $47,511 per acre.
The report attributes the region’s quick land price growth to the fact that the land in the Northeast tends to be scarce since much of the area is already densely developed. Restrictive zoning, historic preservation laws, and environmental regulations in the Northeast can also slow the pace of new development.
While the Midwest experienced a lower percentage price growth than the Northeast at 89.5 percent, it garnered the most money of all regions at $73,448 per acre at the end of March. Southern land prices grew by nearly 85 percent to $63,110 per acre by the end of the first quarter, while the West saw just a 32.2 percent price growth to $54,423 per acre in March.
“Western markets have taken a different path. The region experienced the steepest pullback in new residential construction activity, with single-family building permits declining faster than in any other region in 2025,” the report noted.
“Several Western states have also seen housing inventories return to or exceed pre-pandemic levels, reducing urgency among builders for land acquisition.”
Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Fargo, North Dakota, led the country’s metro areas in price appreciation since the pandemic, with both exceeding 310 percent price-per-acre increases. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Kansas City, Missouri, also ranked among the top 10 metros for price appreciation with gains above 260 percent.
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, led the nation for the biggest inventory declines over the past 10 years, recording a drop of 72.1 percent in land for sale. Morristown, Tennessee, and Wilmington, North Carolina, also recorded decreases of over 61 percent in land inventory. Ten of the hardest-hit markets are located in the East, where raw land is less available.
According to the report, 2024 was a pivotal year for land inventory, since many of the land listings purchased from 2020 to 2022 became new homes in 2023 to 2025.
“Homes eventually return to the listing pool when put up for resale, but land that is developed is permanently converted,” the report noted. “The post-pandemic buying frenzy put a lasting dent in the supply of land for sale across the United States.”
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