A new analysis of more than 1,300 land sales closed in 2025 by National Land Realty shows several trends for 2025. Price and size of parcel are the primary drivers in the marketplace, but more subtle stories emerged from their data, such as trust. The data also highlights big differences in market speed between states and counties throughout the United States. This report provides a data-backed outlook on the importance of using local, trustworthy agents specializing in land. 

Across National Land Realty sold listings where the company represented the seller in 2025: 

• The typical tract was about 20.5 acres.
• The typical sale timeline was about 125 days on market.

From there, the story splits by state, county, parcel size, agent strategy, and even agent relationship.

Fast vs. Slow States: Average Sales Timeline

Fast vs. slow states: Average Sales Timeline

In 2025, some states showed consistently faster sale timelines for National Land Realty listings, while others ran slower.

Among states with at least 20 closed NLR deals:

These numbers don’t mean land in Virginia or Mississippi is “worse” than land in Tennessee. They mean the average sale cycle is longer, and sellers in slower-velocity states need to be more deliberate about pricing. The reason for this difference can also be more nuanced than it first appears.

One state may have an influx of complex, high-value sales or have a dominant agricultural market, which can have a longer sales cycle as compared to other land types.

Hot and Slow Pockets

Examining the average sales timeline on a per-county basis reveals that within many states, there are counties where land moves faster compared to others.

Examples of faster counties that beat their own state’s median by 20% or more (NLR 2025 closings):

By contrast, some counties were meaningfully slower than their states:

These examples show why county-level strategy matters: in the same state and same year, we’ve seen counties where land typically moves in 2–3 months and others where a year on market is normal.

It should be noted that these numbers include a mix of land types (recreational, ag, timber, rural residential, etc.). Property use, improvements, and location still heavily influence outcomes; the county-level stats are directional, not a guarantee for any single property, and demonstrate the variability in sales time even within a single state.

Relationships: The Real Point is Trust

National Land Realty’s internal data grouped seller leads broadly into contact points (How clients meet their agents), as well as client feedback after sale. Here’s what that data shows. In 2025 NLR closings:

What This Means: Reading Between the Lines

Existing relationships and referrals create an inherent trust in the person you are working with, letting the agent guide the price and marketing of the sale. When a client meets an agent through marketing, they tend to be less trusting, often guiding the details of the offering regardless of agent input. This can cause a listing to hit the market at a price that won’t move the property, often resulting in a long-duration sale. How you meet your agent is not nearly as important as trusting your agent. Finding an agent you can trust is probably the most important part of selling land, regardless of how you met them. 

If you meet an agent, but then refuse to budge from your own number, you’re effectively choosing a long sale cycle. For many sellers,  especially those who need to divest or reposition capital,  that extra 4–6 months on the market has real consequences. If you can’t trust your agent’s pricing advice, you’re better off finding a land specialist you can trust than trying to “win” by forcing your price.

Also of important note. If you choose to sell land, choose to set up a plan first with your agent. Prep your land with infrastructure to make it more appealing to market. Not only does this increase your odds of a faster sale, but helps you build a relationship with your agent. 

We see this in our co-marketing data as well. Co-marketing agreements often occur when a residential-focused agent markets land, but does not properly know how to value the land for market or the means to get it in front of a land-focused audience for marketing. These agents will often find a land-focused real estate agent to help them price and market the property. These properties can be out of proportion with the marketplace and have long sales cycles, involving several adjustments to the price.

In 2025:

We’ve seen in our data that co-marketed listings were smaller on average, had a higher price per acre, and took roughly 2 months longer to sell than listings handled by a single agent. We believe this can be attributed to landowners initially trusting a residential agent to sell their property, before realizing that they need the added expertise of a land specialist to market and advertise their property effectively. By the time their residential agent can structure a co-marketing agreement with a Land Professional, their property has likely already sat on the market at an inaccurate price. 

The lesson here for landowners is not to distrust residential agents, but rather to understand that if you’re selling land, it’s best to involve a land specialist from the start. Starting with specialty representation early tends to shorten the sales cycle and tighten pricing expectations, instead of stretching a high-end listing across multiple seasons.

The Simple Takeaway for Landowners and Buyers

For landowners, success begins with understanding the timing of your local market. Every state, and even every county, operates on its own clock. Tennessee and Kansas, for example, behave very differently from Virginia and Mississippi, and the dynamics in Henry County, AL, are distinct from those in Baldwin County, AL. Setting expectations at the state and county levels is essential.

Just as important is choosing a land specialist you trust and actually relying on their guidance. Whether you connected through a referral, a previous transaction, or even a letter, your results depend far more on aligning around a realistic price and timeline than on how you first met. If you plan to hold firm on price, be upfront about the trade-off. Top-of-the-market numbers almost always come with longer sale cycles, and that may be perfectly acceptable unless you truly need to divest quickly.

For buyers, it’s important to anticipate competition in faster-moving counties and on smaller acreages. Markets like Hickman County, TN, or Attala County, MS, demonstrate that well-priced tracts can sell in a matter of weeks rather than years. At the same time, slower states and counties present opportunities. In places such as Baldwin County, AL, or Berkeley County, SC, you may have more time to underwrite, negotiate, and structure a deal, especially on larger holdings.

Above all, work with land specialists who live in their data, not just their ZIP code. The right expert will understand whether you’re shopping in a fast or slow market and will help you craft offers that fit the pace and conditions of the area.

If you’re ready to start your search for the perfect property, get in touch with your local Land Professional and sign up for a MyLand Account!