By Nathan, Sell My Land Arizona · Updated October 22, 2026
What the discount looks like
We compared sales in those high-risk zones against sales in the plain, unshaded X zone, the lowest-risk category. Only one size band gives a fair comparison in more than one county, 2 to 10 acres, so that is the comparison. All figures are medians of closed sales, shown as how much less the floodplain parcel sold for. The county seller pages carry the dollar price bands for each county.
- Statewide: a median price about 12 percent lower in the high-risk zones (668 sales) than in zone X (5,057).
- Pima County: about 55 percent lower in median price (64 sales against 513), and about 59 percent lower per acre.
- Yavapai County: about 42 percent lower in median price (64 against 1,041), and about 51 percent lower per acre.
- Mohave County: about 47 percent lower in median price (171 against 1,295), and about 37 percent lower per acre.
- Cochise County: about 41 percent lower in median price (27 against 263), and about 34 percent lower per acre.
- Pinal County: about 8 percent lower in median price (98 against 787), and about 30 percent lower per acre.
Per acre, statewide, the 2-to-10-acre floodplain parcel sold for about 29 percent less.
Read those numbers with two cautions. Floodplain parcels tend to be a little larger, which lowers the per-acre figure on its own, which is why Pinal looks small in price and large per acre. And some of what looks like a flood discount is location, since low ground and washes sit in particular places. What the comparison does show is that the discount is real and varies by county.
At 10 acres and up we found no discount, and we are not going to claim one. Larger high-risk parcels sold for more per acre, because in our data they are mostly flat farm ground in Pinal County, a different kind of land.
Under 2 acres we left the numbers out. In the metro counties, new-home lots coded as vacant land inflate the comparison, and a number built on them would mislead you.
What a FEMA zone means to a buyer
The zones are drawn on FEMA maps. We group A, AE, AH and AO as the high-risk zones. FEMA's own page calls these Special Flood Hazard Areas, the land with a 1 percent chance of flooding in any given year, the so-called 100-year flood. A lot in one of them is not unbuildable, but it comes with conditions that cost money and time.
Counties regulate building in floodplains. State law has each county's flood control district delineate its floodplains and adopt rules for development and for the elevation of structures built in them (A.R.S. 48-3609). In practice a buyer who wants to put a house or a well on the lot talks to the county floodplain office first and may need a survey of ground elevation. Maricopa County's flood control district, for example, explains that an elevation certificate is normally prepared by a registered land surveyor or engineer and is used to show a structure complies with its approved site plan and to document flood insurance. Whether a permit applies to your parcel is the county floodplain office's call, so ask them before you quote anything to a buyer.
You also have to disclose. If your land is five or fewer unsubdivided parcels in an unincorporated area, the affidavit of disclosure under A.R.S. 33-422 asks for the FEMA floodplain designation, and a waiver of your liability for a wrong answer is not binding. The disclosure guide covers the form.
Washes and the map
Zone lines follow drainage. A lot a wash crosses, or that sits at the bottom of a slope, can land in a flood zone even if the ground is dry most of the year. If you own a desert parcel and have never looked at the flood map, look before you list, because buyers will.
The map can be wrong, and it can change. Part of a parcel can sit inside a zone while the rest does not. If the building area is clear of the zone, say so with a survey or a map overlay, because that is what a buyer wants to see.
