Tag Archives: calendar
Iowa Farmland Values Increase
Updated: Oct 03, 2013 By Dan Howell – email Iowa farmland values increased 10.6% and the value continues to be on the rise, but slowing a bit according to the Iowa Farm and Land Chapter #2 Realtors Land Institute. They reported that the statewide average increase of cropland values of 10.6% for the year from September 1, 2012 to September 1, 2013. This follows an average increase of 18.5% for the year from September 2011 to September 2012; and an average increase of 32.6% for the year from September 2010 to September 2011. Overall, the strong upward movement in land prices has leveled out even though we have seen growth in values over the past six months especially in the East Central District, which covers much of the local market area. “Clearly the decrease in commodity prices and the potential for highly variable yields are slowing the increases in land value especially in medium to lower quality farms,” said Eric Schlutz, Realtor with Ruhl Farm&Land and Muscatine Manager for Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS. The survey also attributed the current land values to an increase in long-term interest rates, 2013 growing conditions, a lack of stable alternative investments, large amounts of cash on hand and the limited amount of land on the market. Continue reading
Agriculture – Food Production
Experts believe that the globe will see the demand for food rise by at least 70% in the next half century. Food production must rise by 70% A report by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation predicts that the production of food must increase by 70% by 2050. This has sparked interest in Brazilian agriculture as an asset class. Just ten years ago, the Matopiba region of Brazil was totally unproductive and unusable for large scale farming operations. More recently, with the addition of lime and phosphorus to the soil the region has become responsible for producing 12.2 million tonnes of Brazil’s grains and oilseed crops, which is 8.2% of the whole country’s production. The Matopiba region has the perfect climate for farming, and boasts a further 2 million hectares of fertile, productive land that will benefit from future investment into farmland infrastructure and machinery. This is leading to wide interest amongst foreign investors hoping to benefit from the growth in Brazilian agriculture and the ever increasing price for crops, as the demand for food outweighs the current and on-going supply of productive, fertile land with which to grow them in, agriculture and farmland investments remain strong alternative strategies to help diversify your portfolio and hedge inflation. DGC Asset Management have been involved in the acquisition and development of farmland in Australia, and has part-funded the developments of greenfield sites in Latin America for five years; returning yields of between 8 and 16 per cent, with additional upside in the capital value of underlying farmland assets. David Garner, Partner at DGC said, “Agricultural land represents one of the most attractive investments for the long-term investor seeking a stable yield and capital appreciation. I think we will continue to see institutional Investors increases their allocations to the agriculture sector in order to reduce equity exposure and correlated their portfolios with rising food and land prices against a backdrop of increasing demand and resource scarcity”. Whilst equity markets continue to deliver hitherto unseen volatility, Investors will continue to seek out real asset investments that are unlikely to depreciate to nothing overnight, and where the underlying assets deliver a cash flow to replace the income lost in an environment of low interest rates. With such Investor interest offering short term price support for good quality agricultural land, investing in farmland and agriculture is likely to feature in more investment portfolios throughout 2013. – See more at: http://www.dgcassetmanagement.com/news/agriculture-food-production#sthash.piYd60Z1.dpuf Continue reading
Mansion Tax Plans Could Affect 775,000 Homes Over 25 Years
Mansion tax plans could affect 775,000 homes over 25 years An assessment of the proposed Mansion Tax by Knight Frank suggests that its revenue targets will not be met at the current proposal for a £2m threshold and that in order to raise the targeted revenue, the value threshold for the tax would need to be reduced from £2m to either £1.5m or £1.25m. The tax would be levied largely on London and the South East of England where 86% of all £2m+ properties are located. Liam Bailey, Head of Research at Knight Frank, said that assuming historic rates of property price growth, the number of properties affected by the tax will increase from 55,000 homes – currently worth £2m – to 775,500 over the course of the next 25 years. “Our calculations point to the real threat of the mansion tax threshold being lowered substantially in order to meet the revenue targets of the political parties,” he said. “Even if the threshold is not lowered, it seems a fair assumption – given that it has remained at £2m since 2009 – that it would not be raised in line with future house price inflation thereby substantially increasing the number of properties affected by the tax. “Over the past 10 years house prices have risen by 69%. Assuming a similar rate of growth in the future, all houses worth more than £1.2m today would be paying a mansion tax 10 years from now, meaning that the number of homes covered would nearly triple from 55,000 to 157,300.” Continue reading
