When you fly over the United States and look down, it may appear that the supply of land is without limits, but this is not true. The federal government in particular has been acquiring private land at an alarming rate since 2008 through acquisitions, condemnation proceedings, and outright seizures by the IRS.

Currently, the federal government owns the following percentages of land in the states where government ownership of land is highest:

Alaska	81.0%
Nevada	78.9%
Idaho	60.6%
Utah	60.0%
Oregon	52.3%
Wyoming	46.5%
California	44.5%
Arizona	42.0%
New Mexico	33.1%
Colorado	29.8%
Washington State	29.6%
Montana	29.4%

In addition to the federal government, the state governments, county governments, city governments, school districts, sanitation districts, improvement districts, and other agencies and subdivisions own vast amounts of developed and undeveloped land and are continuing to acquire more and more each year.

California alone has 58 county governments, 482 incorporated city governments, hundreds of school and college districts, and more than 500 other state agencies, departments, and commissions, all of which utilize office space, parking garages and streets. The state administers 278 parks, 280 miles of coastline, 625 miles of lake and river frontage, and over 3,000 miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails. In addition, the state owns thousands of miles of streets and highways.

While the various governments and their agencies continue to acquire private land, demand for land constantly increases as a result of population growth. In addition, instability in many parts of the world continue to drive the increasing investment in U.S. land by foreign nationals who seek the stability of the United States and its laws.

Following are statistics from the U.S. Census showing continuing population growth leading to growth in the demand for land:

1920	3,426,861	44.1%	1920	106,021,537	15.0%
1930	5,677,251	65.7%	1930	123,202,624	16.2%
1940	6,907,387	21.7%	1940	132,164,569	7.3%
1950	10,586,223	53.3%	1950	151,325,798	14.5%
1960	15,717,204	48.5%	1960	179,323,175	18.5%
1970	19,953,134	27.0%	1970	203,211,926	13.3%
1980	23,667,902	18.6%	1980	226,545,805	11.5%
1990	29,760,021	25.7%	1990	248,709,873	9.8%
2000	33,871,648	13.8%	2000	281,421,906	13.2%
2010	37,253,956	10.0%	2010	308,745,538	9.7%

Population growth means more housing, schools, streets, highways, hospitals, shopping centers, office buildings, food production, and government services, all of which consume land.

While not all land is guaranteed to increase in value, predevelopment land located in the path of growth is likely to increase in value over time. Please contact us if you would like to joint venture the acquisition of land with us or acquire it yourself for investment.

 

Who Owns America?

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