The U.S Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service has released it's 2022 Summary of Land Values. The data is based on USDA surveys of land owners and managers, and not actual land transaction data. Also, the survey focuses on agricultural production lands, and does not include recreational lands which are a significant portion of the Montana land market. Therefore, the per acre values are lower than the true average land values of all land sales in Montana.
None the less, the survey data does provide land market insights. The data usually lags the actual land market. For example, the survey data shows very little increase from 2014 to 2021, when in reality, land values started increasing substantially in 2020.
Displaying the data back to the early 2000's shows the dramatic increase leading up to the 2008 crash, and the subsequent land value drop and slow recovery.
According to this survey data, overall the 2022 Montana average farmland real estate value, a measurement of the value of all land and buildings on farms, was up dramatically in 2022. The average value of all land types, irrigated and non-irrigated cropland and native rangeland, was up about 10% from 2021. At the time of the release of this data, August 2022, the Montana land market has entered a cooling or adjustment period. It is yet to be seen whether land values will continue to increase, or will plateau or even decrease going into 2023.
To see live Montana land market statistics go to our Montana Land Market Statistics page at https://mtlandsource.com/montana-land-market-statistics.
Below is a chart summarizing the USDA data for Montana since 2003.
