Land sales increase by 11.3 percent in '02

Sales of Alleghany County land showed continued growth last year — with an 11.3 percent increase in value of land sold — while construction of houses saw a slight rebound.

According to figures from the Alleghany County Register of Deeds, that office issued a total of 1,072 deeds in 2002. Of those, 614 were deeds with stamps — that is, land sold for money. That was a 2.3 percent increase over the 600 deeds with stamps in 2001, although less than the 627 in 2000.

Volume of sales in dollars showed a more dramatic jump, going from $40.12 million in 2001 (based on stamp value) to $44.64 million last year, for the second consecutive year of double-digit percentage growth. (That puts last year's average sale at $72,703, versus $66,861 for 2001.)

That continued a turn-of-the-century rebound, following the sharp drop in land sale totals from 1999 ($47.0 million) to 2000 ($35.2 million). In number of sales, last year's heaviest month was October, when 68 deeds sold for a total of about $5.0 million. By dollar amount, however, June led the way, with 51 deeds selling for $5.5 million. The leanest month was January, when 35 deeds sold for about $2.2 million.

Of the deeds with stamps last year, 362, or about 59 percent, involved a purchaser from outside the county. That percentage was 55 for the previous year.

Construction Figures Mixed

From statistics provided by the county building inspection department, money spent on construction of single-family houses rose from $11,220,802 in 2001 to $11,593,846 last year. The number of houses for which permits were issued actually decreased slightly, from 95 to 94, so that the average cost per house went from $118,114 to $123,339. The 3.3 percent growth in total construction cost for houses was a rebound from sharp declines the two previous years. In 1999 new residential construction totaled $16.8 million, while in 2000 the amount was $14.8 million.

Mobile home construction dropped in dollar volume but rose in number of permits issued. In 2001, 50 units were built at a cost of $1,673,300, while last year 53 permits were issued with construction costs totaling $1,170,084.

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