Just when you thought you'd seen everything...

ROFL. I will bring buns and chips!

Looks like it's only a matter of time before the land flippers and dealers start abandoning land holdings in a big way. Whether that's a good or bad thing is another matter altogether.

I think it's already here, if not rolling downhill toward 'here' quickly.

What would cure it? Lowering tier. Or staggering the tier climbs a bit, so that people could buy more land before the next tier jump.

Shops are empty, sales are down, rentals are down too. So, need for land is also lower. None of this equals more land sales, and it doesn't seem like it will improve.

Even if they bring tons of teens into SL, they typically do not have tons of spending money.

9.95 monthly
7.50 a month if quarterly
6.00 a month if annual.

For that you -get- 300L a week.

Math time:
300x52 = 15600L a year. 15600 / 12 = 1300L a month. 1300L costs roughly $5.

So the real cost to buy premium is:
4.95 monthly
3.50 if quarterly
1.00 if annual.

For that you get a 512 plot of mature land (or PG if you're into limits) and 117 prims. You get an additional 10% (51m) if you put yourself into a group of 1 and deed your plot to your group. That will give you more prims if you merge that plot with you 512 - but that takes buying a lucky location.

The cost of that plot in lindens is therefore:

1282L / month if monthly
906L / month if quarterly
259L / month if annual

- I do not know how that compares to renting on a private sim or subletting on mainland.

What is also curious to me, and I have yet to find a good theory for this...

Is plots that have been for sale for more than a year that are listed for extreme prices.

On my near abandoned sim, there if right next to me a 4m square for sale for 10000L. It has been for sale since maybe April of 08 (when it was last bought at least). There is nothing on it but three bushes I put there to prevent a griefer from placing something there - only the landowner can return my trees.

There are a couple more spots like that around the sim. There are even a few 4m square not for sale, not being used, and held by their holders for more than a year...

And there is the one ad board I mentioned before. Its on a 4x16m strip, and has been there since the t-rex that wrote 'Rex was here' in graffiti along the base of it passed by...

Who is paying tier for this stuff?

Why would somebody keep something for sale for more than a year, that doesn't go anywhere... if they have to keep paying for it. Lower the price and get it off your tier...

And the ad board? This is a near empty sim - who's reading that ad?
- sell the plot and cut your loses...

But instead these fools keep paying tier...

And the way it cuts up the nearby property is a LARGE PART of why the land doesn't sell to builders...

Predatory land flippers who micro-cut SL mainland back in the day are now being severely hurt by their past aggression.

The (sion) chickens have come home to roost?

There is some truth to it, though. they made the land unwantable, and are now stuck with land no one wants.

I managed to trade up my 512 flatland to 1024 waterfront for 7,000 L$, which is a pretty nice deal I think. Just a year ago, that very same plot would've gone for no less than 25k, even if it has some pretty steep hillside.

Now the trick is to turn it into the rocky private nudebeach I have in mind, while keeping it uninteresting to look at for the occasional randomer who's passing by.