The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1909. LAND TRANSACTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 645, 23 October 1909, Page 4

The Dominion. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1909. LAND TRANSACTIONS.

The report of the Land Transfer., arid Deeds Registration Office for . the'- past financial yoar, when- analysed and-'com-pared , with previous years, affords' considerable interesting information. '~ For the year ended March 31 last-the number of transfers registered was 19,096, asconi.pared with 21,791 in the previous twelve months. The area affected', by the trans-' tors for the past five years compare as under:. —■ -. .. ■ '.■-'.•. -|--c ~ X car , en ded .' ' •-■ ■ Town and".' Country March 31. .'.' . .Suburban Acres. ~ Acres, iflfc ......„.........;„: 5,557 ■■;-. HUM -:■ " Ion? •••••••;■-,•••••••• 6,3*0- •- '-.2,056,485 ;". - 1903 ...:. (j,6<B . 2,939,491 -■1909 ;...:....G,OOO .-1,925,218''"'''' There is .a decided shrinkage,in the area transferred-during the past, year, country lands'suffering to-the-, extent of: over a million acres, it is very probable that higher land values are imposing'a check on business. : Of the town and: suburban property, transferred last year, Wellington district comes first with 2037 acres, Auckland coming- next with 1141 acres. Taking tho country lands alone the areas transferred in each district for the past three years compare as under':— ! , ■ 1007. ; . 1008.;' 1909. ' District. . ' Acres. Acres.' Acres. Auckland' 4(3,211 ' 8G9.4G5 -483,714 laranaki '. 83,6*1 129,527 „ 100,091 Wellington'.'...... 418,950 631,388' 319,000 Hawkos-Bay .... 190,934 214,128 107,223 Poverty-Bay ..i.„. 210,240 103,380 107,019 Nelson. --. ;... 120,915 '• 45.60S . 31,100 Marlborough ... 173,099 91,510 ' 73,131 Canterbury 765,182 320,481-262,133 Otago 152,015 205,077 ..' 171,906 Southland 140,039. 280,102. 190,8 H Westland ' ....:....- 10,707 ' 27,401 - -' '' 0,952' .'•■ ' 2,709,539 2,924,103 1,925,218 The figures show great variations, tho 'only district exhibiting an increase.last year being Poverty Bay, where the land is comparatively cheap. ; ■~■,'..., dealing with values, it is unfortunate that the report does hot distinguish between city and country lands. : However, taking the figiiresas they are given, tho areas, values,.and average prices in each district last'year, were as under':— . •"■'.''■ Total.' . Average Value.. Per Acre. District , Acres. £ ,£ s. d. Auckland ..- 490,885. 2,200,117 : 4 9 8 Taranaki ..' 10G.414 ' 910,800 ; 8 16 9 Wellington • .:.... 321,012 2,925,845''" 9 2 3 Hawko r s Bay 107,705 912,663 5 8 10 Poverty Bay 107,106 305,700.'.' 2 17. 0 Nelson 31,342'. 161,831 . 5 3 3 'Marlborough 73,274 .144,393 ': 1 19 ' 5 Canterbury 202,807 2,581,359 9 16 5 Otago ■ : 172,150 ! '1,259,413 ; 7 9 9 Southland- 191,414 .709,571 -'3 13 1 Westland .......... 6,983. 37,884' . 5 8 G It will be interesting to see how the averages compare with those of-the two previous years. The figures are appended:— Average Per Acre. 1907. 1908. • 1909. District £ s. A. £.s. d. , £ s. d. Auckland „ 3 00 2 12 G 498 I Taranaki 7 15 0 8 5.0 810 9 Wellington 8 10 0 7 11,9 923 LHawke's Day .... 5 11" 0 8 13 4 5 S 10' Poverty Bay i 2 11 6 ,5 8 1 . 317.0 Nelson 1 7 0 436 5 3' 3 Marlborough ... 1 4 3 '2 3 10 1 19 5 Canterbury ■ G 0 0 11 16 ■ 0 -9 16 5 OtaGO- ............. 5 4 6 0 19 7 9 9, Southland .4 11 G .3 18 8 - 313. 1 Wostlnnd ■......... 4. 8 0 • 3 2 8 5 8 G !Horo we note some remarkable changes, 'and' the figures aro worth 'studying. .Taking tho averages, for each island and for tho wholo of, New Zealand, the North Island exhibits a slight, decrcaso, amount-, ihg to anavorago of Bs. per acre, but'the' '■South' Island shows a gain of £l Bs';- Jd.

per aove,'while for tho'whole of New Zealand the gain is 10s. Id. per acre. Tho following table discloses the movements:—. . ■ . ' . North South New Island. ■: Island. Zealand. .'' ' ' Average: Average. Average •£s. d. ' £ a. (I. £. B ;-6. }JPJ .'... 5:98 3127 494 J2S2 ° 10 l 54 4 510 1 W021613 5 6 G 5 The value of tho land transferred in the North Island last year was £7,285,391 and in the South Island £4,924,451. ' The number of mortgages registered dunng_ tho year was 20,715, as against ¥ 9a ";, th e'Previous year and 17,105 in 1907._ iho area mortgaged consisted of 5903J acres of town and suburban land, against 5351J acres in', tho - precious year, and 4,174,036} acres cf coun " ry mi lancts ', .'" against 5,090,632 acres. The amount obtained cii mortgage was £14,650,466, against i15,637,48G, or just abo'utamillion less. Ino amount of mortgages paid off during the year totalled £7,810,337, as compared -with £9,280,616.in"the previous year, tho net addition to the total being £6,840,129, against £6,356,870. The amounts secured on mortgage and tho amounts paid off in each district show as under :— ..;,...; ■ .Amounts Amounts. 'Total Secured. ■ Paid off. added. . ~ , " : ' ''■* ' ' ■■■■£■■■■■■■..■£ ■ i Auckland 1,853,298- , 785,530 ■•■ 1,067,768 laranaki ,1,224,111 6171731' ■■-576,180 Wellington ... 4,187,879 - 2,183,137 2,004,742 Hawko s Bay... 1,182,719 391,973 790,746 Poverty Bay .-.; 779,121 374,381 404,737 N«lson -• 217,128 . .185,813 - . Marlborough. ... .224,454 114,615 109,839 Canterbury ....,2,993,410 1,587,364 .';'1,406,040 °>7°, •••. •••• • 1,115,981 •■ '' 540,188.. . 005,793 Southland 777,101-777,100 1 Wcstland ~... 61,901 .22,502 42,102 7,810,337; 6,840,129 The additions arc heavy in practically all the districts, and'particularly, so in Auckand, Wellington, Ha'wke's Bay, Canterbury, and .Otago., Nelson has tho distinction of having roduced its total mortgages.by £108,085, and Southland has practically made no addition. The "aggregate of tho mortgages on March 31 last was £72,294,069, and compared with the previous year the figures for. each district arel'm under:— . - ■ ".-'•;"■ •■'••■ -1008.' , ' '1909. Auckland .;...'.............;... 5,889,122 ■'•■''•' G.956.E59 Taranaki ..„....; 5,255,928 ' : 5,682,600 Wollingto.-i .„.i 19,970,038 - 21,974,780 Hawko 0,770.100 ; 7,567,213 Poverty Bay 1,427,624 1,832,361 Nelson . ~.... ;,.,.. 1,471,583 • „1,302.8!)8 Marlborough ..........'...,. 863,396 ~ 973,235 Canterbury. ;....;.,., 14,307,471 ,'. 15,713,517 Otago ■■..: '..,,.,..., 4,134,199 " ."< 4,739,902 Southland -5,139,087 ~. 5,139,0f-.8 Wcstland ...................... 218,998 .'... - 201,160 '■:-.''■■'■''-. ■',' !. .£72,294,009 Of the total on March '31- last, the' North Island ■accounted, for £44,163,879, and the South Island for £28,130,190. The amount secured <by mortgage on March 31, 1909, by each district is shown in the table appended:— . •"'.- - ; ■"< .-■.- .'-■ ■''■■'.■■■' Mortgages. - s' • -.•-. District.'.-. -, ■ ■ -■■■£■ ; . Auckland ........ G,950,889 , . Taranaki .■...:.;.:............... 5,832,60b Wellington 1 21,974,780 . .:''-. Hawke's Bay 7,567,243 1 Poverty H0y.....;..,,;.....,..... 1,832,361 , ■ Nelson - 1,302,898 Marlborough ..........-.;....:..-. 973,235 Canterbury .15,713,517 '. ■" i Otago .:...;....;;„..>..; -.;„■; 4,739,992 -!; ' ,". ' Southland 6,139,088 ' ■ :. Wcstland .■.'........ 261,430. ""'

-■'■',-'■:' .•'•'.■•.". ~-,'■ 72,204,000 ; ~':.' The mortgages of Wellington arid Canterburycombined ard more than half thi> total,' while the' Wellington l mortgages alone are equal to more ithan 30 per cent of -llio jtotatii;On:>March .•>3lyMa699jr.->,, the mortgages amounted to -£33,035,337, ■•''no that in ton years thero has-been an in-, crease of £39,258,782, cquali to nearly 110 ■per-cont _ But the 'mortgages .havo beeir '.piled up in the past-.fivo-years at an tonishing .rate,, for the increase, during' that'period.was £28,806,517, while'for the live years to March '31, 1904;.ihe,. increase was only £12,458,215*. It would be in-? tcrcsting to know how much of tho total is _ local money and how much was op-tained^rom-outside, sources, but -unfortunately there is no way by which this can be discovered. "''