NW farmland prices more than treble in a decade
FARMLAND prices in the North West hit yet another record high during the first half of 2013 and have more than trebled in less than a decade, according to the latest survey.
During the first six months of the year, the cost of farmland in the North West jumped to £8,813 per acre, hitting a record high and making the North West the most expensive region for land prices, according to the RICS Rural Land Market Survey H1 2013.
The cost of land is now more than three times that of the same period in 2004 when an acre in the North West cost just over £2,750. Across Britain, land prices also increased significantly, yet the cost per acre was lowest in Scotland at £4,438.
The exponential growth in prices has been driven by the on-going surge in demand from farmers and investors alike, RICS said. Interest from potential buyers started to steadily grow again at the end of 2006 and surveyors in the North West note that hikes in commodity prices are leading the charge to expand agricultural operations with investors increasingly seeing land as an economic safe haven.
With bare farmland so sought after, the six months to June saw more chartered surveyors in the region reporting falls rather than rises in supply with the sheer pace of growing demand outstripping the amount available land.
Graham Bowcock of Berrys Chartered Surveyors says: “The wet summer of last year and subsequent difficult winter and spring do not seem to have diminished the appetite for land purchase in the North West. The ‘big’ still want to get bigger but continue to be hampered by a shortage of supply. It is possible that farmers accounts in March 2013 may show a downward trend and this may impede their ability to borrow. However, there are plenty of non-farmers waiting in the wings and many seem to have cash available.”
Sue Steer, RICS spokesperson, adds: “The growth of farmland prices across the North West in recent times has been nothing short of staggering. In less than ten years we’ve seen the cost of a square acre of farmland grow to such an extent that investors – not just farmers – are entering the market. And, if commodity prices continue to increase and keep demand high, there’s no reason at all why we won’t see the cost per acre going through the ten thousand pound barrier in the next two to three years.”
