MARKET FOR FARMS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18845, 7 April 1931, Page 9

MARKET FOR FARMS.

A BUYER’S DIFFICULTY. Complaint has been made by a correspondent of the “New Zealand Herald” who said he was prepared to pay £I7OO, of which £BSO would be in cash, for a farm of about 40 acres as a going concern, that although one heard so much talk of the precarious state of farming and that farmers were walking off their land, not a single farm suitable for his purpose was offering. He had made inquiry throujh Auckland land agents and the Commissioner of Crown Lands, neither of whom had anything available. All he asked, he said, was that the proposition should show a sufficient return to compensate him for his labour and interest on his capital. It was evident, he said, that until some strong Government took a firm hold of the land development of the country and the division of large estates, to make them available for the small man there could be no real prosperity in the Dominion. “Buyers Locking for Bargains.” When the matter was referred to a leading city land agent he immediately quoted a property of 91 acres for £2093. The property included a fiverocmed house, cowshed, car and implement shed, and the stock carried comprised 35 cows, 2 bulls, 6 eighteenmonths heifers, and 18 heifer calves. The terms were £BSO cash and the purchaser to take over a Government mortgage of £BOO, the balance to be arranged. “That looks suitable enough if the man is genuine,” commented the agent. He added that there was a fair amount of inquiry for one-man farms at present from people with only a limited amount of capital. The farms were offering, but the difficulty was that buyers were looking for bargains while vendors regarded the present price of dairy produce as lower than that at which it would ultimately stabilise itself with the inevitable improvement of economic conditions. Even so there was a considerable amount of activity in the farm property market at the moment and in his case there was a possibility of a number of transactions being completed within the near future. Prices of Improved Farms.

Another agent expressed the opinion that although the deposit offered would be sufficient, the amount of capital the correspondent had was too low to obtain the improved farm he desired. After allowing for implements and stock, say, £SOO, and buildings at £6OO, there would only remain £6OO to pay for the land, which would bring it down to about £ls an acre. The buyer would have to be prepared to go off the beaten track to secure land on that basis. There were many farms, however, which could be secured as going concerns for a price of about £2300 to £2500 with a deposit of £BSO. “We have a lot of people with £2OO to £3OO capital looking for farms in the dress circle to-day,” commented the agent. Plenty of vendors were prepared to meet the market providing a buyer of substance could be found. Very often vendors in an effort to sell had conceded as much as £6OO in their price, only to find when it came to business that the purchaser had practically no capital to put into the venture. One feature at present, the agent added, was the large number of people who had town houses and properties to offer in exchange for farms.