The Dominion. THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1910. LAND TRANSACTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 874, 21 July 1910, Page 4

The Dominion. THURSDAY, JULY 21, 1910. LAND TRANSACTIONS.

The report of the Land Transfer and Deeds. Registration Office presented to Parliament'for the year ended March 31 last, when analysed, and compared with previous 'years, affords a good deal of interesting information. During the past year the number. of transfers registered was 17,277, as compared with 19,096 in 1909, and 21,791 in 1908. The area involved; in the transfers during the past six years compare as under:' ' ' Tear , Town and ended suburban:- Country.March 31.' Acres. ( Acres. ■ 1005 . '5587 -. 1,419,548 • . 1906 6340 2,056,485 1907 C 683 2,709,539 1908 6678 2,939,491' : ' 1909 6000 ' 1,925,218 ; . 1910 5623 . . 1,457,305 . The area, dealt with during the past year was smaller than, in any previous year except 1905, aqd the shrinkage may lie attributed to the slump in land values, with the consequent disinclination or inability, of owners to ma.ke sales. .For two years in succession, there has been a shrinkage, but the decline in the past year is not so serious as that of, the previous twelve months. Taking the country lands alone the areas transferred in each district for each of the past three years are shown in the table appended :• ■ ■ • i 1908. 1909. 1910. District. Acres.: Acres. . Acres. Auckland ... ' 869,465, ;459,744 321,349 Taranaki- ... 129,527 100,091 64,948 Wellington ... 634,388 319,006 197,731 Hawke s Bay 214.128 . . 107,223 165,496 Poverty Bay , 103,380 107,019 55,056 Nelson : 48.60S 31,166 40:572 Marlborough... - 91,546 73,134 36,897 Canterbury ... 320,481 >262,133 239,773 Otago 205,077 171,906-. 119,961 Southland 280,162 190,844 : 205,867 Westland ... ' 27,401. 6,952 9,745 " % '2,924,163- '1,925,218 . 1,457,395 In only three districts, namely, Nelson, Southland, and Westland, has there been- any increase in the areas transferred, while the shrinkages' in some cases a.re most marked, Wellington' district, for instance, showing a fall -from 319,006 acres to 197,731 acres, the:'transfers. • for .1909-10 being about-a fourth of those for 1907-8, when transfers of 634,388 acres were registered. It is interesting now to compare the average values per acre, and in the table below the total areas— town', suburban, and' country—are given, also -the total value,. and the average value per acre worked .out to the nearest 1 penny : Total Average , value, per acre. District. Acres. .£ ■'£ s. d. Auckland ...' 322,581 1,776,631 .5 10 2 Taranaki ... 65,208 675,516 10 7 2 Wellington ... 199,270 ..2,129,244 10 13 8 Hawke s Bay 165,761 • 784,504 4 14 8 Poverty Bay 55,289 421,034 7 12 3 Nelson .'. 40,854 148,866 3 12 10 Marlborough... 37,007 85,394 2 6 2 Canterbury ... 240,387 2,28G,900 9 10 3 Otago 120,334 • 812,047 6 14 11 Southland ... 206,532 674,070 3 5 <3 Westland ... 9,795 1 • 26,055 2 13 2 1,463,018 9,820,261 6 14 3 The average is high in Taranaki, Wellington, Canterbury, and Poverty Bay. The averages, compared fofr a period of three years, give a better view of the situation. The table appended illustrates this point: s ■ Average Per Acre: 1908. 1909. 1910. District. .£ s. d„ .£ s. d. £ s. d. Auckland ... 2 12 6 4 9 8 5 10 2 Taranaki- ..." 8 5 0 8 16 9 10 7 2 Wellington... 7 11 9 9 2 3 10 13 8 Hawko's Bay -8 13 4 1 5 8 10 4 14 8 •Poverty Bay 581 2 17 0 7 12 3 Nelson '• 4 3 6 .5 3 3 t 3 12 10 Marlborough.. 2 3 10 1 19 5 2 6 2 Canterbury... 11 16 0 9 16 5 9 10 3 Otago 6 1 9 7 9 9 6 14 11 Southland ... 3 18 8 3 13 1 3 5 3 Westland ... 3. 2' 3 5 8 6 2'13 2 The value of land in Auckland has vory nearly doubled in the past two years. In Taranaki and Wellington the advance has been continuous, dairying land now being very costly. In- Ilawke's Bay, Canterbury, and. Southland the average price has shown a continuous decline, while in the Poverty Bay district there has been a sharp increase. Nelson, Otago, and Westland register decreases, while shows a slight increase. - Comparing the averages for the two islands and for the whole of New Zealand we obtain the following: NJ. . S.I. N.Z. Average. Average. Average, £ ?. d. £ s. d. .E s. d. 1907 ...... 5 9 6 3 12 7 4 9' 4 1908 6 10 1 5 4 4' 5 1G 1 1909 6 2 1 0 13 5 • 0 6 5 1910 ....... 7 3 3 li 3 2 6 14 3 The North Island average has advanced steadily, having risen from £o os. Gd. to £7 3s. 3d. per acre, an increase of nearly 31 per cent. The South Island averace shows a-drop

this year, but compared with i 907 there is an increase of £2 10s. 5d., or nearly 70 per cent. The gain for the whole of the Dominion is £2 4s. lid. per acre, equal to a little more than 50.per cent. The shrinkage in the quantity of land dealt with in the past twelve .months and in the previous year may bo attributed to want of confidence following the fall in values, but a revival now seems assured. Produce prices are ruling at profitable levels, and there is an abundance of money available to. •finance real estate transactions. Turning to the mortgage business, of tho year, it is seen that for the twelve months ended N March -31 last there' were. 19,955 transactions,, as compared with 20,715 in 1909, 19,795 in 1908, and 17,105 in 1907. The area mortgaged consisted, of 5378J acres of town and suburban land, and 3,734,961 acres country land; for the previous year the areas dealt with were 59035 acres town .and suburban land,, and. 4,174,0361' acres country land. The amount obtained on mortgage was £13,611,123, as against £14,650,466, in the previous year, a'nd £15,637,486 in 1908. Thus, for the-second year in succession, there was a decrease of a million sterling. 'Of the- amount secured in the past year, the North Island obtained £8,190,234, and the South Is•land, £5,420,889. The amount paid off during the year was £8,133,471, of which the North Island accounted for £4,712,811, and the South Island for £3,420,'660, ■ the total amount added for the year being £5,477,652, of which £3,477,423 is due to 'the North Island, and £2,000,229 to the South Island. The table appended shpws the totals for two years: Amount Amount. Total eccured. paid off." added. £ £ .2 1309 14,650:466 7,810,337 6,840,129 1910 13,611,123 8,133,471 5,477,652 It will be seen from the above that while a smaller, amount was secured on mortgage, •' last year a larger amount was paid off, the net addition to the. total being nearly a million and a half than- in the previous year The amounts secured and paid off in each district, together with the net additions to the total, are shown in the table appended: : ■ ' Amounts Amounts -Total securcd. paid off. added. District. j6 ■£ 1 £ Auckland ... 2,435,571 799,869 1,635,702 Taranaki ... 1,094,480 000,103 494,377 Wellington.... 3,0-12,305 2,280,428 761,877 Ilawkc's Bay 984,213 .. 677,747 306,466 Poverty Bay 633,665 ' 354,66-1 279,001 Nelson ...... 194,743 105,170 89,573 Marlborough.. 153,339 79,570 73,769 Canterbury.... ■ 3,296,168 .2,009,202 1,286,966 Otago 881,737 718,197 163,540 Southland ...' 825,426 472,661 -352,765 Westland ... 69,476 ' 35,5G0 . 33,616 I - 13,611,123 8,133,471 5,477,652 The amount of the mortgages on March 31 last was £77,771,721, of which £47,641,303 is on North Island properties and £30,130,418 on South Island properties. The aggregates of the mortgages on March 3.1 of each of the past seven years are as under: Total ; . ~ . Year ended Mortgages. March 31. £ ; ' . 1904 45,493,552 . 1905 49,030,811 .. • . 1906- 53.480,099 ■ < - 1907 59,097,070 1908 65.453.940 . ■ 1909 72,294,069 1910 77,771,721. In six years there has been an increase of £32,278,169, or about 75 per cent., and this additional demand shows the importance of encouraging the inflow of capital. - The demands for loans on mortgage are_ likely to increaso rather than 1 diminish for tho simple reason that large areas have still to be developed and brought into profitable occupation. The amount secured on mortgage-in' each district during the past two years shows as under: 1909. - 1910. -'District; • £ £ : Auckland 6,956,889 . < 8,592,592 ■ Taranaki 5,832,606 6,326,983 Wellington ... 21,974,780- 22,736,657'. Hawke's Bay... 7,567,243 , 7,873,709' Poverty Bay ... 1,832,361 , 2,111,362 • Nelson.' 1,302,898 1,392,471 Marlborough ... 973,235 1,047,004 Canterbury ... 15,713,517 . 17,000,483 Otago 4,739.992 4,903.532 \ Southland • ... 5,139,088 ' 5,491,852 ■ Westland 261,460 ' 295,076 72,294,069 77,771,721 It will thus be seen that Wellington and Canterbury • districts between them account for more than half the total; ' - -,