Agricultural transactions are declining, but prices are increasing: it is estimated where prices have increased the most

In the eight months of this year, about 16.5 thousand have already been registered throughout the country. agricultural land transactions, almost 35 thousand. hectares of land. According to analysts at the Center of Records, if there are no significant changes in the market during the rest of this year, this year’s results will be very close to those recorded in 2019.

“Compared to last year, this year will undoubtedly be better both in transactions and in purchased area, but last year the entire real estate market was clearly affected by the pandemic that hit the country. Although this year we will see an annual increase in the number of transactions, looking at the longer term, it can be seen that each year the number of transactions and the total area of ​​land acquired through them decreases by about 4 percent. These trends may be due to both existing restrictions on farmland ownership and reduced market supply. Well, the growing demand and the unwavering desire of buyers to buy land are evidenced by rising transaction prices, ”says Paulius Rudzkis, data analyst at the Center for Records.

Based on the change in the area of ​​agricultural land purchased, the districts of Kaunas (87%), Ignalina (86%), Kėdainiai (57%), Širvintos (52%) and Jurbarkas (51%) grew the most this year. The largest negative acreage of agricultural parcels purchased this year is in the districts of Kelmė (46%), Anykščiai (20%), Skuodas (18%), Mažeikiai (18%) and Šilutė (16%).

Demand raises prices

In recent years, there has been a steady increase in the prices of agricultural parcels in Lithuania; According to the Registry Center’s calculations, the average growth for the last 5 years is 12.5 percent.

“This year, the largest annual price jump was recorded in the district municipalities of Trakai, Kaunas and Klaipėda, where the average price has more than doubled during the year. It is probable that an important part of the parcels acquired in these municipalities was not acquired for their direct purpose, that is, for agricultural activities, but for the development of commercial or residential real estate projects ”, considers P. Rudzkis.

In recent years, the price of agricultural land has also increased significantly in the districts of Molėtai, Varėna, Šalčininkai, Jonava and Utena. At that time, a decrease in prices was observed in the districts of Rokiškis, Biržai, Lazdijai and Radviliškis.

According to the calculations of the Registry Center, most of the agricultural parcels are acquired by natural persons and only one of every eight registered transactions was in the hands of legal persons.

“It is interesting that despite the fact that legal entities represent only one in eight transactions, they represent up to a quarter of the total area purchased. In other words, companies carry out fewer transactions, but their surface is much larger. Furthermore, an analysis of transaction prices has shown that legal persons pay around 20% for the acquisition of agricultural land. more than natural persons “, – P. Rudzkis shared his ideas.