Following further increases during the third quarter the value for prime arable land now averages just under £8300 per acre across Great Britain. This pushes average growth up to 8.5% so far this year - our baseline forecast for average value growth for 2013 is 8.8%.
Price growth was however, concentrated in the eastern and northern regions of Great Britain with an increasing divergence in values between the best quality arable land and poor quality grassland.
Alex Lawson, Director of Farms and Estates for Savills comments, “The stellar performance of the best commercial farms continues. However, although the headline figures show impressive growth, there is wider a story behind the sound-bites, which is a less buoyant market for residential farms. Similarly the limited supply of land advertised, ignores a booming private market, especially in the case of the largest and most expensive farms and estates”
Growing price gap between prime arable and poor grassland
(Average GB prices)
In terms of supply there has been a slight uptick in the number of acres publicly marketed so far this year. In England, there was a 3% increase compared with the same period of 2012, but in Scotland the volume of land marketed is the highest recorded since 2003.
Looking at individual regions in England supply fell furthest in the East of England (-36% down on the first three quarters of 2012) with just 9,640 acres marketed. This is the smallest acreage marketed in the East to this period of a year since our records began in 1995.
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