FEWER FARMS BEING SOLD.

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22358, 23 March 1938, Page 17

FEWER FARMS BEING SOLD.

“LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN SECOND MORTGAGES”

fTHE PRESS Special Service.! AUCKLAND, March 22. Because owners generally are no longer disposed to accept second mortgages on account of purchase money, fewer farms are now changing hands, according to agents, than otherwise would be the case. There are other factors exercising influence on the situation, such as the feeling by many owners that if they do sell they are likely to face difficulties in securing other farms, but finance appears to be the dominant consideration that afreets the market. , Some farms have recently changed hands in thG Waikato, it is stated, and much more activity is expected m April, May. and June, which are normally busy months for farming deals. “I have several clients with sums up to £ISOO, and in one case with £IBOO, who have been looking for farms for some time, but who have been unsuccessful so far. because owners have demanded the whole of the equity in cash,’' said one agent. “Lack of confidence in second mortgages is the cause.” , ~ Another agent said it was difficult to reconcile the differences in the ideas of values held by buyers and sellers. Buyers had very much in mmd the high price of stock. With some of them the drop in the price of wool restrained the eagerness to acquire sheen properties. , , ... “While the one-man-and-family type of dairy farm is not affected directly by the labour situation, there is no question that it does affect the demand for the larger type of farm.”