Open-market acre volume up 23% on 1999
Open-market acre volume up 23% on 1999
By Louise Rose
DURING the first six months of this year the volume of land publicly marketed increased by 23% compared with the same period in 1999.
"In England 105,000 acres have been publicly marketed in the first half of 2000 compared with 86,000 acres in the first half of 1999 and 123,500 acres in the first half of 1998," reveals the latest research by FPDSavills.
Regionally, the largest increase in the supply of farmland was in the south-west and the west midlands which increased by 37% and 47%, respectively, but in the north-west the supply fell by 24%.
Also the varied supply of land is reflected on a county level. In counties including Oxon, Norfolk and Lincs the volume rose significantly during the first half of the year compared with the same periods in the previous two years but the acreage publicly marketed in Essex, N Yorks and Wilts declined.
"In Oxfordshire the supply in the first six months of 2000 increased by 174% compared with an average increase of 9.6% across the south east," found the research, "Also supply in Norfolk increased by 169% compared with a 27% across the east of England".
"The market is beccoming more unpredictable with location often being an important factor in the final sale price. Between the counties the volume of farmland marketed is wide ranging and current values often are determined by neighbouring farmer interest, good residential potential and tight supply," said the firms Ian Bailey.
Nationally farmland values fell only by 0.3% during the second quarter of the year following about a 3% fall during the first quarter of 2000 according to the firms Farmland Value Survey.
However variations in value between the regions are not as marked during the second quarter as previously. Regional changes in the average land value during the second quarter ranged between a 0.2-0.8% fall compared with a 0.3-9.7% decline during the first quarter of the year.
FPDSavills Survey of publicly marketed farmland includes all farms, over 50 acres, advertised in the national farming and rural property press.
The FPDSavills Farmland Value Survey is a record of the value of a range of types and quality of bare agricultural land by region since 1992. It is based on the quarterly valuation of a static portfolio of nine types of bare land with vacant possession in 25 regions in Britain. It is based on local expert knowledge which is mainly sourced from knowledge of local transactions but also accounts for special purchasers, unusual properties and the tone of the market in the area.