BLM Land Auction Results

I recently read a Las Vegas Sun Letter to the Editor entitle “BLM land sale is bad for Nevada” published on July 27, 2019.  The letter by Emily Woods of Las Vegas noted that pristine lands “from the cliffs of Red Rock Canyon to the shores of Lake Tahoe – is shared by millions of visitors each year.  Each day, I am struck by the beauty of nearby canyons, mountains and pristine desert, which harbor spectacular wildlife and limitless recreation.”  She goes on to state that oil and gas drilling goals may destroy a wildlife corridor and fishing.  I agree, this should be curtailed, but the BLM is doing more harm than that.

The BLM just potentially sold 36 parcels or 670 acres of vacant land in Clark County, Nevada see the attached table (all of the information in the table is based on sources deemed reliable) and the total sales are projected to be over $ 171 million dollars.  This auction is the continuation of a relentless imposition of the government (BLM) into the private land market.  The fact of the matter is that the BLM regularly sell as much land as they possibly can into the Clark County market without regard for the health of the private land market.  They in fact offered but couldn’t sell another 24 parcels at this latest auction.

 So basically the BLM swamps the vacant land market in Clark County, Nevada with as much land as they possibly can sell.   Their lofty goal is “improving the quality of life in Southern Nevada.”  The funds go to fund public land projects, to the Southern Nevada Water Authority and finally a portion goes to the State General Election Fund.  I don’t know about you but I think the money is not improving my quality of life.

 You have to ask yourself, “Does the BLM have to sell 20% or more of the total lands sold in Clark County each and every year to accomplish their impossible to measure goal?”  Isn’t there supposed to be some oversight on government impacts to private markets?  If you take a hard look at the buyers you see a number of builders, developers, investors and speculators and in my opinion they are all only buyers if they are buying at below-market prices.

The fact of the matter is that the BLM like Clark County in the past substitutes appraiser “fair market value” opinions for actual value in their offerings then sells the properties below 100% of the appraiser opinions.  Being a vacant land appraiser in Clark County I realize that valuing vacant land to an “appraisal certainty” doesn’t mean that my opinions are always the de facto market value.  I’m sure there are times when I am low and times when I am high, yet no one at the BLM auction bid over 100% of the appraised value.   Many auction buyers bid from 28% to 100% of the “fair market value” opinion or the “appraised value” and the average buyer paid only 81% of the appraised opinions.

For more appraisal information contact Glenn J. Rigdon MA, MRICS, IFAS, ASA who is a Las Vegas / Henderson Nevada based broker and appraiser who can be contacted via email or via his business website known as Appraiser Las Vegas  (http://www.appraiserlasvegas.com), or http://www.horizonvillageappraisal.com, or you can also click on “Contact Us” on the home page of this website or visit my public profile at LinkedIn at http://www.linkedin.com/pub/glenn-rigdon-ma-mrics-asa/1a/30b/879/

Article source: http://www.appraisalarticles.com/General-Appraisal-Articles/Market-Conditions-Articles/4750-BLM-Land-Auction-Results.html