SELLING FARMS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 66, 18 March 1915, Page 6

SELLING FARMS.

' GOOD BUSINESS REPORTED. , INQUIRY FOR SMALL HOLDINGS. I The timidity in land speculation which followed the outbreak of war seems to have passed away. This must be regarded as a gratifying indication of restored confidence in the Dominion's trade prospecte. and aJso in the future of the Auckland province. Some inquiries on this point were made this morning by a reporter among representatives of leading firms of land agents, and in every instance they agreed that business is now more solid than was the case prior to .lanuary. "We find." snid one, "that tlie demand applies chiefly to small holdings of. say, 100 acres. This means that a good deal of attention is being paid to farming on a small seale —dairyins, fruitgrowing, etc. After war was declared there was a good deal of shyness on the part of buyers, but since .lanuary they have been realising that the primary industries are likely to continue on a sound footing, and also that while money is available at 0 per cent, on good securities there is no reason for further timidity." He added that thore was no reason to believe that a slump would occur during the winter. Another land agent eaid that while transactions in fanning lands were more numerous it was an unfortunate feature that much of the business was being done on the exchange eystem. Tlie only way to make this satisfactory was by the introduction of a system of compulsory Government valuations. The trouble wae that too much business was being done "on paper." At the same time business was satisfactory, and appeared likely to continue so from now onward. There wae no perceptible change in values as compared with thoso of last year, although there was certainly less tendency towards the payment of fictitious pr.ces. In this respect perhaps business wag sounder now than ever.