The Rise of the Rural Real Estate Owners

The Rise of the
Rural Real Estate Owners

Rurally located real estate is making a comeback. For the past 50 years, rural areas have seen a decline in property values and a decline in employment. Jobs and business migrated to urban areas and the net effect has been a drain on our small towns and rural communities.

However, in the past two years as consumerism moved from retail stores to the internet to third party delivery and consequently demand for industrial real estate increased. The prices for prime locations in urban and at interstate locations have soared. Many investors and business owners from urban areas have been priced out of these markets and are looking for solid industrial buildings elsewhere. They are looking for properties which can meet their needs in an area where there is a labor pool with available workers. These two factors as well as comparatively low real estate taxes are found in the rural areas of Pennsylvania.

Annette Cassel Means, Associate Broker at High Associates recently sold a 142,000 square foot warehouse at 10210 Fairgrounds Road, Huntingdon to an investor from New Jersey. While the building is 35 minutes from any four-lane highway, it is a well-built industrial building with great parking, a good structure, and a working sprinkler system.

High Associates successfully marketed the property and received multiple competitive offers for the property which created a triple-win for the community which gained a new employer, the building owner who was able to sell an underutilized asset and lease back a portion of the space to his/her business, and the Buyer who was able to acquire a sound investment to grow their business.

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