Property consultants Strutt and Parker said the price of cropland in England rose by 5 percent in the three months ending on Sept. 30, reversing a two-year decline, reported Agrimoney. Farmland is “an attractive investment for lifestyle and tax-driven buyers,” said the consultants, because working land is exempt from inheritance taxes and purchases of farmland qualify for relief from capital gains taxes on profits.
The average sale price reported by Strutt and Parker was 9,100 pounds (about $12,000) an acre. Land prices fell by 19 percent in the two years ending in June. With uncertainty about the impact leaving the EU will have on British agriculture, farmers have become less active in the land market. Prices are rising now due to the limited amount of farmland offered for sale “and strong interest from non-farmers,” said the consultancy. It said private investors made up 20 percent of land purchasers during the July to September quarter, up from the usual 8 percent.
U.S. farm real estate, which includes land and buildings, was worth an average of $3,080 an acre this year, up 2 percent from 2016, said the USDA’s Land Values report. Cropland values were unchanged, at $4,090 an acre. Farm real estate values are highest in the Corn Belt, at an average of $6,260 an acre.