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Florida Citrus Land Sales Summary for 2017

Ernie Neff sales

floridaColdwell Banker Commercial Saunders Real Estate (CBCSRE) reported 146 verified citrus grove sales in Florida in 2017. The sales were listed, without seller or buyer names, in CBCSRE’s annual Lay of the Land Market Report distributed at the April 5-6 Land Conference at ChampionsGate near Orlando.

The company reported that 109 of the sold groves stayed in citrus and 37 were transitioning to other agricultural uses or development. Of the 109 remaining in citrus, 87 were in the central region, 19 in the Indian River area, and three in the southwest.

A report on the Treasure Coast, or Indian River area, indicated former citrus groves that are no longer productive sold in the $3,500 to $5,300 per acre range, while producing groves sold in the $5,000 to $8,000 per acre range.

In the central region, sales prices ranged from about $2,500 to $17,500 per gross acre. The average was $6,274 per gross acre and $7,329 per net tree acre. The midpoint was $6,316 per net tree acre. The 2017 price is approximately 6 percent less than in 2016, and the price per gross acre is approximately 5 percent less. The volume of acreage sold is approximately 12 percent higher than in 2016.

The largest citrus sale listed by size and price was 4,875 acres in Manatee, Highlands, Hardee and DeSoto counties at a price of $30 million. The price per acre was $6,154, and the price per tree acre was $7,739.

A $23.5 million sale of 616 acres of citrus transitioning to other agriculture occurred in Miami-Dade County with a per-acre price of $38,149. Miami-Dade is outside the traditional Florida orange-grapefruit-tangerine Citrus Belt.

In DeSoto County, 1,890 acres sold for $15 million, at a per-acre price of $7,937.

The only other sale reported for more than $5 million was of 309 acres in Indian River County transitioning to other agriculture. The price was just over $5.2 million, and the per-acre price was $16,919.

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About the Author

Ernie Neff

Senior Correspondent at Large