The Texas land market closed 1,861 rural land sales in Q1 2026 (January 1 – April 30), moving a combined $1.24 billion in volume. Transaction count climbed roughly 8% year-over-year. Pricing did not. This Texas land market report aggregates closed-sale data across all five major Texas MLS systems — HAR, ABOR, NTREIS, CTXMLS, and SABOR — to give buyers, sellers, and ranch investors a defensible picture of where pricing softened, where it held, and where Houston’s westward expansion continued to rewrite the comp set.
For anyone tracking Texas land for sale, ranches near Houston, or county-level acreage pricing, Q1 2026 produced one of the most informative four-month windows since the post-2022 market reset began.
Q1 2026 Texas Land Market: Executive Summary
Three patterns define Q1 2026:
Volume is back, but prices are not. Statewide transaction count rose to 1,861 closed land sales — up from 1,723 in Q1 2025 — yet the median price per acre slipped from $12,310 to $11,825, a 3.9% year-over-year decline. The mean dropped harder (-7.8%) as fewer trophy ranch sales pulled the top of the curve down.
Acreage size drives per-acre pricing with mechanical consistency. Tracts in the 10–25 acre band traded at a $15,480/ac median. Ranches at 500-plus acres traded at $4,204/ac. That’s a 3.7x spread, consistent with prior years and a reliable anchor for Texas land valuation and comp work.
The Houston growth corridor outperformed the broader Texas market. Counties along Houston’s western and northern expansion arc — Waller County, Montgomery County, Austin County, Fort Bend, Washington, Grimes — closed 150 transactions worth $134 million in Q1 2026. Waller County posted a $51,568/ac median. Montgomery County posted $47,717/ac. Both numbers sit well above the statewide median and confirm that proximity to Houston employment, infrastructure, and amenity growth continues to command a premium the broader market is not getting.
The takeaway for the Texas land market: liquidity is healthier than the headline price line suggests. Buyers are transacting again — they’re just not chasing 2022 price expectations.
Texas Land Prices: Q1 2026 vs. Prior Years
The clearest way to read Texas land pricing is to walk the four most recent Q1 windows side by side. The table below covers every closed rural land transaction across HAR, ABOR, NTREIS, CTXMLS, and SABOR for Jan 1 – Apr 30 of each year.
| Period | Closed Sales | Total Volume | Median Price | Median $/Acre | Median Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2023 | 1,657 | $972M | $297,000 | $12,188 | 20.9 |
| Q1 2024 | 2,029 | $1.25B | $319,000 | $12,973 | 20.0 |
| Q1 2025 | 1,723 | $1.27B | $371,573 | $12,310 | 24.0 |
| Q1 2026 | 1,861 | $1.24B | $350,000 | $11,825 | 25.0 |
What the trend line shows
Median acreage size has climbed four years running — from roughly 21 acres in 2023 to 25 acres in 2026. Larger tracts pull the blended price-per-acre number down even when underlying per-acre pricing on similar tracts holds steady. Some of the 3.9% YoY drop in median $/acre is a mix shift, not a true Texas land price decline.
That said, the close-to-list ratio confirms genuine softening on the buyer side. The statewide Q1 2026 median ratio is 0.933 — meaning the average sold property closed at 93.3% of its list price. The four-year trajectory:
– Q1 2023: 0.947
– Q1 2024: 0.942
– Q1 2025: 0.935
– Q1 2026: 0.933
Sellers are conceding more at the negotiating table than they did three years ago. Property that would have sold at 95–97% of list in 2023 is now clearing at 92–93%. For a $400,000 tract, that’s a ~$15,000 swing — material enough to inform asking-price strategy.
Texas Land Prices by MLS Region
Regional dispersion is significant. Median $/acre across the five Texas MLS systems for Q1 2026:
| MLS Source | Coverage Area | Q1 2026 Closes | Median $/Acre | Median Acres |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABOR | Austin / Central Texas | 231 | $17,943 | 18.6 |
| CTXMLS | Central Texas (non-Austin) | 209 | $12,805 | 22.2 |
| HAR | Houston / Southeast Texas | 356 | $12,183 | 25.1 |
| NTREIS | North Texas / DFW | 998 | $10,309 | 25.6 |
| SABOR | San Antonio / South Texas | 67 | $7,786 | 30.0 |
These are blended numbers across diverse sub-markets. ABOR’s $17,943/ac figure includes both Hill Country acreage at $35,000+/ac and Bell County tracts at $8,000/ac. The takeaway isn’t that any one MLS is “more expensive” — it’s that Texas land pricing is highly localized, and any meaningful valuation work has to drill down to the county and product-type level.
Acreage Band Analysis: How Tract Size Drives Per-Acre Pricing
Per-acre pricing scales inversely with tract size with remarkable consistency across the Texas land market:
| Acreage Band | Q1 2026 Closes | Median $/Acre | Median Total Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10–25 acres | 924 | $15,480 | $220,000 |
| 25–50 acres | 362 | $10,971 | $378,125 |
| 50–100 acres | 277 | $8,334 | $598,000 |
| 100–250 acres | 209 | $7,001 | $1,000,000 |
| 250–500 acres | 65 | $5,000 | $1,650,000 |
| 500+ acres | 22 | $4,204 | $3,729,500 |
The 10–25 acre band is the engine of the Texas land market — 924 transactions, roughly half the entire Q1 volume by count. It’s also where small-tract recreational buyers, weekend retreat purchasers, and exurban homesite shoppers cluster. Pricing in this band held firm against the broader median softening, which is consistent with what brokers across Southeast and Central Texas have been reporting: small-acreage demand never really cooled.
The 250-acre-plus segment is thinner — only 87 combined closes statewide in four months — but that’s the working-ranch and legacy property tier, and inventory at that size near major metros continues to be the hardest tier to source.
Top Texas Counties by Q1 2026 Closed Sales
Transaction count tells you where Texas land buyers actually showed up. The top 20 counties statewide by Q1 2026 closings:
| County | Closes | Median $/Acre | Median Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Taylor | 43 | $8,187 | 20.0 |
| Lavaca | 41 | $10,832 | 52.9 |
| Milam | 39 | $13,509 | 21.2 |
| Grayson | 35 | $28,057 | 23.1 |
| Hill | 34 | $13,197 | 13.4 |
| Van Zandt | 33 | $11,500 | 17.5 |
| Burnet | 31 | $22,900 | 11.3 |
| Fannin | 31 | $10,000 | 46.9 |
| Bell | 30 | $22,938 | 20.0 |
| Wise | 30 | $17,380 | 16.7 |
| Lamar | 29 | $8,140 | 20.4 |
| Coryell | 28 | $12,104 | 32.3 |
| Navarro | 28 | $10,663 | 29.0 |
| Erath | 28 | $15,136 | 17.7 |
| Gonzales | 26 | $12,391 | 23.6 |
| Hunt | 26 | $13,500 | 23.5 |
| Bastrop | 25 | $24,604 | 26.4 |
| Williamson | 25 | $36,153 | 11.3 |
| Colorado | 25 | $22,224 | 20.0 |
| McLennan | 25 | $15,714 | 17.0 |
North Texas dominates the count — Grayson, Van Zandt, Hill, Fannin, Wise, Lamar, Navarro, Erath, Hunt, and Coryell all sit in NTREIS territory and reflect the volume of small-to-mid acreage transacting around DFW’s outer ring. Central Texas counties (Burnet, Bastrop, Williamson, Bell, Coryell, Milam) round out the upper tier and command higher per-acre pricing thanks to Austin’s metro pull.
For Southeast Texas readers, the standout is Colorado County’s 25 closes at a $22,224/ac median. Colorado isn’t a Houston-adjacent county in the strict sense, but it sits directly in the I-10 expansion path and pricing reflects that.
Houston Growth Corridor: Q1 2026 Land Market Data
This is the section that matters most for anyone working land between Brookshire and the Brazos Valley. Q1 2026 Houston growth corridor data:
| County | Closes | Median $/Acre | Median Acres | List Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austin | 14 | $22,775 | 38.9 | 0.91 |
| Brazoria | 4 | $13,499 | 30.9 | 0.93 |
| Chambers | 2 | $6,232 | 83.2 | 0.92 |
| Colorado | 25 | $22,224 | 20.0 | 0.92 |
| Fort Bend | 12 | $25,511 | 28.9 | 0.88 |
| Grimes | 17 | $25,243 | 21.0 | 0.97 |
| Harris | 4 | $132,024 | 12.9 | 0.98 |
| Liberty | 10 | $10,347 | 45.5 | 0.89 |
| Montgomery | 12 | $47,717 | 34.1 | 0.91 |
| San Jacinto | 16 | $10,722 | 23.0 | 0.92 |
| Walker | 16 | $15,500 | 19.5 | 0.89 |
| Waller | 8 | $51,568 | 14.0 | 0.92 |
| Washington | 10 | $28,547 | 26.4 | 0.96 |
Corridor totals: 150 closes, $134 million in volume.
Waller County’s $51,568/ac median is the headline number for Q1 2026. With only 8 closes the sample is small, but the median tract size was 14 acres — exactly the product type that benefits most from Houston’s western push. Small-acreage tracts in Waller County are functionally exurban homesite land now, priced accordingly, and trading well above ranch-land per-acre comps in the same county lines.
Montgomery County at $47,717/ac on a 34-acre median is the cleaner data point. Twelve closes, mid-sized acreage, and per-acre pricing that reflects the I-45 / Hwy 249 / Aggie Expressway corridor pressure. Buyers in Montgomery County are paying for both location and a credible ranch product — and ratios at 0.91 mean sellers are still negotiating, but from a strong asking-price starting point.
Washington and Grimes continue to be where Houston-area ranch buyers convert at the highest rate. Median ratios of 0.96 and 0.97 — the highest in the corridor — indicate properly priced properties are clearing close to ask. Both counties sit in the “country with city access” sweet spot: 90 minutes to the Galleria, weekend-property infrastructure, and a deep buyer pool that knows what it’s looking for.
The notable absence: Galveston posted zero qualifying closes in Q1 2026, and Chambers had just two. Coastal and east-of-Houston tracts continue to underperform the western and northern arc.
Velocity & Inventory: What the Numbers Signal
Beyond price, the velocity numbers tell a parallel story. The statewide median close-to-list ratio of 0.933 is the lowest in four years of Q1 Texas land data. The combination of higher close count (+8% YoY) with softer pricing is the classic signature of a market where supply has expanded faster than demand can absorb at last year’s prices. Sellers are clearing — they’re just doing it at adjusted numbers.
Where ratios stayed strong in Q1 2026:
– Grimes County: 0.97
– Washington County: 0.96
– Harris County: 0.98
Where ratios slipped:
– Fort Bend County: 0.88
– Walker County: 0.89
– Liberty County: 0.89
This is incremental softening, not a market collapse. But the direction matters. Property that would have sold at 95–97% of list in 2023 is now clearing at 92–93%.
Notable Q1 2026 Texas Land Sales
The ten largest closed transactions statewide in Q1 2026:
| Sale Price | Acres | County | $/Acre |
|---|---|---|---|
| $16.6M | 48 | Denton | $346,623 |
| $11.5M | 977 | Palo Pinto | $11,764 |
| $11.0M | 146 | Bastrop | $75,116 |
| $10.9M | 760 | Kaufman | $14,312 |
| $9.6M | 189 | Rusk | $50,897 |
| $9.0M | 608 | Bastrop | $14,796 |
| $8.4M | 448 | Palo Pinto | $18,765 |
| $8.4M | 710 | Burnet | $11,831 |
The highest per-acre sales (10+ acre tracts) clustered in the metro-edge counties — Denton, Harris, Collin, Travis, Montgomery — where land is functionally being priced as transitional development inventory rather than agriculture. That bifurcation between “land near a growing metro” and “land in the rural interior” continues to widen, and any Q1 2026 comp analysis that ignores it will produce misleading pricing recommendations.
Texas Land Market Outlook: What to Watch in Q2 2026
The Q1 2026 data points to a Texas land market in measured rebalancing rather than retreat. Transaction count is up, total volume is essentially flat, and pricing has softened by a single-digit percentage at the median. That’s not the profile of a broken market — it’s the profile of a market normalizing after three years of post-2022 price discovery.
Three watch-items going into Q2 2026
Houston corridor inventory. Waller, Montgomery, Austin, and Washington remain supply-constrained for quality turnkey ranches in the 25–75 acre band. As long as Houston’s western expansion continues — and there is no indication it is slowing — pricing pressure in this arc should hold.
Mid-tier (100–250 acre) absorption. This is the working-ranch and legacy-property tier, and Q1 2026 closed 209 transactions in that band — a healthy number. Brokers should watch whether close ratios in this segment stay above 0.92 or drift lower; that’s the leading indicator for whether Q2 2026 sees further price discovery.
Acreage-size mix. Median tract size has now risen for four consecutive years. If that trend continues into Q2 2026, expect the statewide $/acre numbers to keep drifting lower even when underlying like-for-like pricing is stable. Pay attention to comp normalization, not headline medians.
For sellers considering 2026 listings, the data argues for disciplined pricing strategy: properly comped properties are clearing, but mispriced inventory is sitting longer and conceding more at the table. For buyers, this is the most negotiable Q1 since the post-2022 reset began — particularly in the 25–100 acre mid-tier and in the corridor counties where inventory has rebuilt.
Frequently Asked Questions: Texas Land Market Q1 2026
How many land sales closed in Texas in Q1 2026?
Across the five major Texas MLS systems (HAR, ABOR, NTREIS, CTXMLS, and SABOR), 1,861 rural land transactions closed between January 1 and April 30, 2026, totaling $1.24 billion in volume.
Are Texas land prices going down in 2026?
Median price per acre for closed Texas land sales dropped 3.9% year-over-year in Q1 2026, from $12,310 in Q1 2025 to $11,825 in Q1 2026. Mean price per acre declined 7.8%. However, transaction count rose 8%, indicating buyer activity has returned even as pricing has softened.
Which Texas county has the highest land prices in 2026?
By Q1 2026 median price per acre, Waller County led the Houston growth corridor at $51,568/acre, followed by Montgomery County at $47,717/acre. Metro-edge counties near Austin (Bastrop, Williamson) and Houston (Harris) also recorded premium per-acre pricing on smaller tracts.
What is the close-to-list ratio for Texas land in Q1 2026?
The statewide median close-to-list ratio was 0.933 in Q1 2026 — the lowest in four years of Q1 data. This means properties that closed sold at an average of 93.3% of their list price.
Is the Houston land market still strong in 2026?
Yes. The Houston growth corridor (Waller, Montgomery, Austin, Fort Bend, Washington, Grimes, and surrounding counties) recorded 150 closed land sales worth $134 million in Q1 2026, with per-acre pricing well above the statewide median in supply-constrained counties.
Looking to Buy or Sell Texas Land in 2026?
Andrus Land Group specializes in Texas ranches, recreational properties, and luxury acreage estates across the Houston growth corridor, Austin County, Waller County, and ranch markets statewide. As a multi-year RLI Land Broker of the Year recipient and Accredited Land Consultant, Chad Andrus brings market intelligence and deep transactional experience to every listing.
View current Texas ranch listings
This Texas land market report aggregates closed sale data from HAR, ABOR, NTREIS, CTXMLS, and SABOR for the period January 1 – April 30, 2026. Dataset includes 1,861 closed rural and farm-and-ranch transactions across Texas. All medians and means are computed at the close-price and close-per-acre level. County classifications follow MLS-reported boundaries. Data extracted and analyzed by Andrus Land Group’s internal market intelligence system. For sourcing questions or comp-level data requests, contact the brokerage directly.
Author: Chad Andrus is the founder of Andrus Land Group, an Accredited Land Consultant (ALC), and a member of the REALTORS® Land Institute. He was named RLI Land Broker of the Year in 2023 and 2024.
