Weekly Housing Trends

The big story

Debi Hammond/VacayStay406.com/Short-term Rentals

Yellowstone. The Madison. 1923. Dutton Ranch. A stampede of neo-westerns proves that America’s obsession with ranch life is alive and kicking like a rodeo bull. Homebuyers are also weighing in with their wallets: Ranch prices are up 112% over the last decade to an average of $769,000, leaving regular real estate’s 66% gain in the dust.

But is owning a ranch all it’s cracked up to be? Investors who’ve ridden off into this sunset have plenty of hard-won wisdom to share.

Start with a “hobby farm” rather than a huge ranch

Marketing executive Debi Hammond was living on a half-acre in a California suburb with her husband and three kids when she got the itch for more space. They moved to five acres and joined 4H, but that wasn’t enough. So they went all in on 400 acres in Montana. “We thought it was huge!” Hammond recalls. “We quickly learned that we’re considered ‘hobby ranchers’ given the size of our herd.” They started with four cows, figuring nature would take its course, and the herd would grow organically. Nature obliged come “calving season.”

“My husband woke me up in the middle of the night saying he needed help with a calf,” Hammond recalls. “After wearing pencil skirts and four-inch heels for 20 years, I had to put on Carhartt bibs and head out into a storm with below-freezing temperatures to save a calf that would die had we not brought it into the barn. It’s a real thing with ranchers. It’s money, so you want to make sure everything goes right. That was a huge lesson early on.”

Beware the “ag rollback”

Nychole Baxter, a rancher and Realtor in Texas, has seen ranch fever lead plenty of buyers astray. “Price per acre is the number everybody looks at, and it decides almost nothing,” she says. “What matters is how much of the acreage you can use, how it holds up in a dry August, and whether the road you drove in on is a recorded easement.”

The most expensive mistake of all is the “ag rollback”: In a nutshell, agricultural land may have an “ag valuation,” meaning it’s taxed at a lower rate—but only if you keep farming or grazing it as intended. “Take a place out of ag use, and [they’ll] come back for the difference,” Baxter warns. To avoid this, contact the appraisal district before you buy, build, or change how any piece is used. “When we bought our ranch, we had to provide proof we were continuing, such as our livestock bill and photos of the animals.”

Ranches are rarely cash cows

A ranch can wear a lot of hats economically: produce, meat, agritourism (Hammond added an Airbnb to give guests a taste of ranch life). But this doesn’t mean it’s easy money. Now five years in, Hammond’s ranch is still in the red. “The cattle and Airbnb bring in some income, but we’re putting in more than we’re getting out since we’re building the herd,” she explains. And that’s fine by her, since she’s not chasing a quick flip.

“Long-term, the goal is to make this a profitable business. It’s definitely an investment. But it’s mostly a lifestyle,” Hammond says. “We love the land, the freedom, the outdoors, the animals, the views of the Yellowstone River; it’s spectacular.”

      

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What's up this week

Realty check

Ronaldo Schemidt/Contributor/Getty Images

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🦗 This home listed for $850,000 comes with an unusual chore: mowing the roof.

You asked, we answered

Q: Are home prices really rising, or is it just inflation?

Sources: Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Historical Housing Prices Project; Designer: Andre Blockett.

Rising home prices are not just an inflation-induced optical illusion. To prove it, researchers at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia spent a decade sifting through 2.7 million real estate listings from 1890 through 2024. What they found: Over the past 134 years, home prices have soared 354% in inflation-adjusted terms. Bottom line? Buyers really have had it rough for a very long time.

Certain cities really make home shoppers suffer. San Diego leads the pack with a 1,225% price spike since 1890, followed by Los Angeles (1,063%), Boston (521%), Baltimore (477%), and San Francisco (413%). But in other areas, prices have remained shockingly chill. St. Louis has barely moved the needle, up just 6% since 1890. That’s followed by Cleveland (18%), Pittsburgh (25%), Detroit (39%), and Atlanta (44%). These laid-back markets tended to have lower population growth and looser zoning rules, so builders could actually keep up with demand instead of falling hopelessly behind.

But that could be changing. High prices are turning Americans into “affordability refugees,” fleeing to wherever the math still works. Over 60% of all traffic to online listings now comes from out-of-towners—and Western buyers are the most eager to pick up stakes, with 65.6% browsing homes elsewhere. Meanwhile, the cities where buyers stay loyal to their hometown are, unsurprisingly, the ones where prices have barely budged. The top city? You guessed it, good ol’ St. Louis. Here’s more on where buyers are putting down roots and where they’re running for the hills.

Real talk

Fowl Play/Jon Kohler & Associates

Why live near the water when you can just live on it? Fowl Play, a luxury lodge docked off Port Fourchon, LA, can be towed out into open water so you can fish, hunt, and not bother the neighbors. Listed for $5.5 million, there’s plenty of room for friends and family, plus there’s serious revenue potential as a rental for offshore trips. Here’s a taste of what your weekends could look like.

Q: What was the inspiration behind building this floating lodge? “The inspiration came from hunting out of a much smaller houseboat that we used during duck season and stored away the rest of the year,” says the home’s seller, Tony Nelson. “We put together a wish list for something we could use year-round for fishing in the spring and summer, duck hunting in the winter. Construction took two years to complete in 2010.”

Q: How big is it? “At more than 4,600 square feet, the lodge sleeps 22 people,” Nelson says. “It docks alongside a covered boat dock and saltwater pool. When duck season arrives, we tow the lodge 40 miles into the marsh, where it stays on the 6,000-acre duck lease for 90 days before returning to home base.”

Q: How do you build a home that floats? “The lodge was built on two separate spud barges that connect to live and operate as one,” explains Tim James, Jr., the listing agent at Jon Kohler & Associates. “The barges are made of steel and have a life expectancy of 30 to 40 years when maintained. The vessel also has two generators, an onboard water maker, and 30,000 gallons of fresh water, so it can go for weeks without the need to conserve water or power.”

Q: Are floating homes a smart investment? “Absolutely. The opportunities a vessel like this opens up for world-class hunting and fishing are unmatched,” says Nelson. Although he used it to entertain clients and family, the lodge could easily generate revenue catering to exclusive hunting and fishing trips. “Without a vessel like Fowl Play, those opportunities would be hard to replicate.”

      

Housing market of the week

Black Barn Alpacas

When Yussy El-Hibri and her husband, Travis McManus, wanted to start a ranch, they agonized over which animals to get. The result? They settled on Black Barn Alpacas, a 50-acre farm in Finksburg, MD, with over 150 alpacas.

How they got started: El-Hibri and her husband both grew up around agriculture and tried out corporate careers but eventually boomeranged back to the farm; it turns out the land, the animals, and the lifestyle don’t let go that easily. “Alpacas weren’t on our radar at first,” she admits. When they started exploring livestock options, they spent time with these animals and fell for them hard.

The pros: “Alpacas are truly unique animals—gentle, intelligent, curious, and incredibly calming to be around,” says El-Hibri. They’re also easy on the land, grazing gently instead of tearing it up, all while producing “one of the most remarkable natural fibers in the world.” Basically, these animals check every box: husbandry, agriculture, sustainability, and helping people reconnect with where their stuff actually comes from.

The cons: Running a farm can be a money pit, from animal care and feed to property upkeep, equipment and the daily grind. “Plus many factors are outside your control,” says El-Hibri, from sudden heat waves to blizzards and beyond.

Their advice: Tap a variety of revenue streams to keep cash flowing. Black Barn relies not only on sales of fleece clothing and yarn but also on agritourism events from farm tours to alpaca yoga. This works great for El-Hibri, who points out, “We wanted to build more than a ranch. We wanted a place where sustainability, education, and community come together.”

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