IN THE BIG BEND REGION OF TEXAS
rices in the Big Bend where Sierra la Rana is located have seen robust appreciation since the early 1990s. During the 15-year span between 1991 and 2006, rural land prices in the 12-county land market area that includes the Big Bend region have spiked 600 percent, according to the Texas Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University, the nation's largest publicly funded organization devoted to real estate research.
More recently, the Real Estate Center reports that in the first half of 2007, median prices continued to increase, jumping another 15 percent. In a technical report on Texas land markets released in February 2008, Research Economist Charles Gilliland writes, "Brokers report struggling to find good properties to sell."
The upward trend in land values in the Big Bend mirrors the robust appreciation that has been occurring on a statewide basis. From 2001 to 2006, prices for rural land appreciated on average at a hefty 14 percent annual compound rate. Taken over the full five-year span, this works out to a more than 93 percent total increase according to the Real Estate Center.
