Strong Land Values Though Sales Activity Has Slowed in Pacific Northwest

While agricultural land values in the Pacific Northwest are generally strong to increasing, sales activity have slowed in the second quarter of 2013, according to Northwest Farm Credit Services’ Land Value Survey which is based on real estate and sales activities that are monitored by Northwest FCS appraisers throughout the region.

Northwest FCS Vice President of Appraisal Services Toni Parish shares more

Parish: “Throughout the first quarter of 2013, we saw strong demand continue like it had been the previous year in 2012, especially for the good quality agricultural land; with the supplies very, very limited for these type of properties in most areas of the region. In the second quarter of 2013, we actually saw a slowing of sales happening in the market. This could be due to many factors: predominantly there is a perceived reduction in demand there as buyers are becoming more cautious of interest rate increases, declining commodity prices and potential water shortages in some areas.”

Parish says listings of good-quality agricultural properties throughout the three states remain low with many sales occurring between landlords and tenants. Although she adds

Parish: “ There has still been interest seen in the market place from larger institutional investors as they look for some good returns that have been happening in the marketplace in the last year or two.”