Laclede County Market Report

Laclede County land favors buyers right now, and the numbers back it up plainly. Thirty-five active parcels against five closed sales puts us at seven months of supply — that's a buyer's market by any measure, and sellers who priced aggressively this summer are feeling it. Median sold price came in at $240,000, down almost a quarter from August, while the list-to-sale ratio slipped to 92.9%. Translation: asking price and closing price are diverging more than they were a month ago, and buyers who come in with a firm, researched number are getting sellers to move. If you're selling raw acreage or a hunting tract this fall, price it like you mean to sell it — the data shows this market is punishing optimism.

The $/acre gap tells the same story from a different angle. Active listings are asking a median $10,313 per acre, but what's actually closing is running $7,400 per acre — a meaningful spread that smart buyers are using as leverage in negotiations. Average days on market dropped 27 days to 122.6, which sounds like good news for sellers, but combined with the falling sale price and ratio, it more likely reflects the softer-priced properties moving first while overpriced ground sits. Archery season is opening and firearms deer season isn't far behind, which historically pulls serious hunter-buyers off the sidelines — if you've got a tract with timber cover or river bottom that's been lingering, this is the stretch where it finally gets looked at hard.

Inventory character this month leans heavily recreational — 43% of active listings touch creek, river, or pond frontage, and with the Niangua River system running through the county, that water access remains the single strongest driver of buyer interest and stronger offers. Nearly half the active listings (49%) include a cabin or retreat structure, and 40% have a barn, shop, or outbuilding, meaning there's real functional value sitting on a lot of this ground beyond bare dirt. Lebanon continues to carry the bulk of activity with 24 active parcels at a median ask of $364,350 on just under 20 acres, while Richland's farm-heavy inventory commands the county's highest asking prices on properties averaging over 70 acres. For buyers hunting pasture or tillable ground, Stoutland and Phillipsburg offer the most affordable entry points in the county — worth a look before hay cutting wraps up and sellers start thinking about next year's lease income instead of a sale.

Laclede County's housing market continued to favor sellers in September, though the pace of activity suggests things are stabilizing after a busier summer. With just 2.54 months of inventory on hand, the county remains firmly in seller's market territory, and the jump in median sold price to $252,500 reflects that tightness. Homes that are well-priced and in good condition are still moving, but buyers negotiated a bit more room this month than in August, with the list-to-sale ratio dipping to 96.7% and average days on market stretching to just over seven weeks. That combination tells us sellers are still winning, just not quite as decisively as before.

Lebanon continues to anchor the county's market, accounting for the vast majority of active listings at 88, with a median list price of $274,900 and days on market tracking close to the county average. That consistency makes Lebanon a good barometer for where Laclede County is headed overall. The smaller markets — Eldridge, Phillipsburg, and Falcon — simply don't have enough listing volume to draw firm conclusions, though it's worth noting Falcon's lone two listings carry a median price more than double the county norm, a reminder that in these smaller communities, a single luxury or acreage property can swing the numbers significantly.

For sellers, the data suggests this is still a strong window to list, particularly with 99 active listings representing a modest uptick in competition but still a lean overall supply. Buyers, meanwhile, should take note that while homes aren't selling quite as fast or for quite as close to asking price as they were a month ago, the market hasn't loosened enough to expect significant negotiating leverage. With 43 new listings and 39 closings this month, supply and demand remain closely matched, and that balance is likely to keep Laclede County competitive heading into the fall.