Increase in land value
Rural property specialist Smiths Gore says the value of equipped farms rose two per cent in the final quarter of 2009 to an average across England of £7,200 an acre.
It was the first quarterly rise since summer '08 and values are still 10 per cent lower than a year ago, said spokes-man Giles Wordsworth.
He said: "The picture across the country is of very limited amounts of land for sale and pent-up demand. Some of the increase in values is due to smaller farms being marketed, where the value of house and buildings boosts the value per acre."
Bare land values dropped two per cent over the period to an average of 4,800 an acre – still 30 per cent higher than at the end of 2007.