Crop farms are hot properties in today”s real estate market, but beef, poultry and fish farms aren”t faring as well, say local real estate agents.
“It appears that farms that are priced at market price are selling in this market,” said Phil Barker, a West Point agent with Mossy Oak Properties. “I actually get more requests than I have properties to sell. There is always a good market for row crop farms, as well as pasture tracts of land that are priced right. The ones that don”t sell are usually overpriced.
“(But) catfish farm ponds are not selling now due to the downturn in that industry,” he added.
“The catfish industry is kind of depressed right now and we”ve sold quite a few catfish farms in the past, but there”s not much activity now on catfish farms,” said Joey Smith, a Columbus agent with United Country Advantage Realty, the country”s oldest real estate franchising system. “And I find the same situation with the poultry industry. It”s getting kind of tough; there”s not much new construction going on in the poultry industry. People just aren”t buying much chicken, according to our (farmers).
“It”s just the economic situation doesn”t look real good,” he continued. “And, of course, the price of beef is going down right now, so there”s not a lot of pasture land right now. From what I understand, though, the grain industry seems to be doing all right.”
Both agents agreed land purchases for hunting purposes have little or no effect on the availability of or demand for farm land.
“Hunters usually don”t buy open farm land for recreational use,” said Barker. “They like to have timber tracts that hold more wildlife. They may purchase a farm that is in the Conservation Reserve Program, (a voluntary land-retirement) government program, but these tracts are already out of use for farming.”
“Actually, hunting land seems to be holding its own right now, but mainly (it”s) small tracts (purchased),” said Smith. “Large tracts don”t seem to be moving very well.”
Most of the buyers Smith sees are interested in tracts of 40 to 50 acres, he noted, adding many buyers are from Louisiana or the Gulf Coast region.
“They”re looking for land they can run to in case of a hurricane, but secondly, they want it for hunting,” he explained.
“I have a lot of interest in farms,” Smith concluded of the market for farm land. “We”ve got a lot of people calling us, but right now, they seem to be riding the fence. A lot of these people have got to sell something before they buy. A lot are coming from Florida. They want to come here, but until that real estate market turns around, we”re not going to see ours turn around. There is a ton of interest in our properties; I”ve got a lot of activity. These are people that are interested in buying, but they”ve kind of held back because they can”t sell their stuff.”
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