FARM PROPERTIES

Hokitika Guardian, 21 May 1932, Page 2

FARM PROPERTIES

MARKET NOW AT ROCK BOTTOM

AIANY CANTERBURY

INQUIRIES

CHRISTCHURCH. Alav 20.

Rock hoi tom has been reached in tiie farm properties ms rket, and prospective buyers are' busy in. various Canterbury di-Arias. The only stipulation is that the price must lie. justified hy ] resom-tlay

i cl 111 ns. “Tile most signilb anl indication,” said ilm head of one city agency, “is that uo lane on otir hooks about thirty buyers, seeking big i repertics mostly for grazing;, wlm are prepared to put down torn £5.(101) to £15,000. they are the 'hard heads,” who have born waiting for the 'right time. That time is now. I hey were men wlm could afford to defer pure huso till they weie sure the time was ripe for tile investment of their capital.”

Another ilaAs,-by far tin* most numerous. is made up of men who have a few hundred pounds and are 'noteligible for relief works. Such men are looking for small .holdings. Both town and country workers are included. It is if far better proposition for them than walking the city streets, living on their restarted capital. Then again, there are far more applicants fo leases that can be suited. They are men who can put down a half year’s rent, and have enough left for .steak.

Tin' wav this class if business is booming is well illustrated by the fact that the agency referred to has employed two additional salesmen in the last six weeks. Another man whose land dealings extend over most of Canterbury was also omphalic on the point- that- the demand was great, lmt in his experience sales were difficult to put through, mainly on account of the fact that many properties were mortgaged in honin' times, and the mortgages are. ill consequence, entirely out of proportion fo Lie value of the land al iho present time.

VALUES DOWN BY OYER 10 PER CENT.

“The prices farmers are getting for their produce now,” he said, “takes u s back to the position as it was in 1913. Buyers are quite aware of that, and they want to get the land at a price which will give them a chance to show a fair working profit. Land values have dropped by over 40 per cent. Mill country which was worth an amount corresponding to £B, CIO, and even 212 for every ewe carried, now works out at a value of from £4 10s to £5 per ewe. The man who buys land at a price which works out at £6 per ewe is looking for trouble. “In many instances mortgages make it impossible for t lk* land to be Isold at- present-day values, and the | mortgagees'' hang" on; hoping ’against I hope for a rise in values that will make 'their capital outlay good. Some are accepting 3 per cent on their money instead of (5 per cent. They are prepared to meet the farmer by cutting interest, but cut capital they will not. In consequence, the farmer who wants to sell and get out cannot meet j the price of the would-be purchaser, who knows that ns well as reduced returns, which take him hack to the 1913 land values, he has to contend with j rates, taxes, and other increased charges which treble the overhead costs of that year. Further the farmer who is holding his own will not sell at ’ present-day prices. The man wlm does want to sell is the one who is in trouble.”