Commercial farmland values set to fall

10 September 1997

Commercial farmland values set to fall

Savills, the property consultants, said the value of commercial farmland
would fall sharply over the next 30 months as the impact of sterlings strength fed through into the land market.

The average value of vacant possession farmland with no residential element would fall by 19% by the end of 1999 from its spring 1997 peak, it said.

However, strong demand from outside the farming sector for rural property would limit the drop in the average value of all vacant possessions to 15% over the next two-and-a-half years.

Savills said farmland values would begin to grow again after 1999. Their
values have risen 87% since 1992.

The imminent drop in prices reflects the recent sharp decline in productive worth of farmland with most agricultural sectors experiencing a market dip in profitability this year.