This page is built from actual recorded sales in Cass and Otoe County, not from a listing estimate or a national headline. It covers 1,172 arms-length sales recorded January 2024 through July 2026, and it reflects sales recorded through July 13, 2026.
There are two markets out here, not one
An acreage sells for a median of $439,000. A house in one of the towns sells for a median of $247,000. That is about 1.8 times the price, on the same map, in the same window, often to buyers driving to the same jobs. Any single number for this area averages those two markets together and describes neither one.
The gap is not a few expensive properties pulling the average up. The middle half of acreage sales runs $329,250 to $590,750, while the middle half of town sales runs $189,500 to $345,000. The bottom of the acreage market sits close to the top of the town market.
Acreage is 22% of the sales out here and 33% of the dollars. It is a smaller number of larger transactions, which is why it gets talked about more than its transaction count suggests.
What the extra money buys
The median acreage has 1,812 finished square feet against 1,340 in town, and it costs $253 per finished square foot against $198. So it is both a larger house and a more expensive house per foot. The land is part of the price, but it is not the whole of it.
Acreage sales, first half of each year
January through June only, so a partial current year compares fairly against the ones before it.
| Year | Acreage sales | Median |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 34 | $397,500 |
| 2025 | 41 | $425,000 |
| 2026 | 59 | $430,000 |
Acreage sales went from 34 in the first half of 2024 to 59 in the first half of 2026, with the median moving from $397,500 to $430,000. Both the count and the price have moved in the same direction. On a market this size a single year is thin, so read the direction rather than the percentage.
Prices by community
These are the communities with enough recorded sales in the window to publish a median that means something. Acreage is excluded here, since it is its own market and is covered above.
| Community | Median sale price | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Buccaneer Bay | $388,750 | 58 |
| Beaver Lake | $375,000 | 89 |
| Louisville | $275,000 | 67 |
| Eagle | $249,950 | 50 |
| Greenwood | $246,500 | 26 |
| Palmyra | $234,250 | 20 |
| Syracuse | $225,125 | 98 |
| Plattsmouth | $215,000 | 281 |
| Weeping Water | $192,500 | 30 |
Communities with fewer than 20 recorded sales in the window are left out. A median built on a handful of houses is not a meaningful number, and the small towns out here genuinely are small.
How to read this if you are buying or selling
If you are selling an acreage, the county median is the wrong comparison and it will make your property look overpriced. The right comparison is other acreages, and then the specific ones nearest you in size, buildings, and condition.
If you are buying, the middle-half range tells you more than the median does, because it shows what your budget actually reaches. And if you are deciding between town and country, the two markets move independently enough that the choice is a real one rather than a matter of degree.
These are recorded sales, which means they closed months after the listing decisions that produced them. They tell you what the market has done, not what it is about to do. For what is coming up, my Cass County acreage page and Otoe County acreage page cover how I track properties before they reach a listing site.
Questions people ask
What does an acreage cost in Cass or Otoe County, Nebraska?
The median arms-length acreage sale recorded January 2024 through July 2026 was $439,000, across 262 sales. The middle half ran $329,250 to $590,750. Those are recorded county sale prices rather than asking prices, so they reflect what buyers actually paid.
How much more does an acreage cost than a house in town?
About 1.8 times as much at the median: $439,000 against $247,000 over the same window. The median acreage is also larger, 1,812 finished square feet against 1,340, and costs more per finished foot, $253 against $198. It is a bigger house on land, priced accordingly, not simply a town house with a yard.
Which communities in Cass and Otoe County are most and least expensive?
Among communities with enough recorded sales to publish, Buccaneer Bay is highest at $388,750 and Weeping Water is lowest at $192,500. The lake developments price differently from the towns, and several smaller communities are left out entirely because they record too few sales for a median to mean anything.
Is the acreage market east of Lincoln growing?
On recorded sales, yes, on both counts. First-half acreage sales went from 34 in 2024 to 59 in 2026, and the median moved from $397,500 to $430,000. This is a small market, so read that as direction rather than a precise rate.
Where do these numbers come from?
The Nebraska Department of Revenue residential sales file, which is assembled from county assessor records. Only sales the assessor marked as arms-length are counted, so family transfers and forced sales are excluded, and prices are limited to $50,000 through $2,000,000 so that nominal transfers and outliers do not distort the medians. The window is January 2024 through July 2026.
Want the numbers for your property?
Tell me where it is and I will pull the sales that actually compare to it, acreage or in town. No cost, and no obligation to do anything about it.