Daily Real Estate News  |  August 7, 2007  |   U.S. Farmland Prices Set Record Highs
The price of U.S. farmland has risen to a record high of $2,160 an acre in 2007, up from $1,900 in 2006, the Agriculture Department reports.

Land prices rose the most in the West and the South, rising 17.8 percent in the Mountain states and 17.6 percent in the Southern plains. The Midwestern Corn Belt rose 13.1 percent and the Northern Plains jumped 14.4 percent.

In the Northeast, the average cost per acre reached $5,000, up from $4,500 a year ago.

States with the largest increases were:

• Wyoming: 24.4 percent
• Utah: 23.2 percent
• Nevada: 22.2 percent.

The USDA attributed the increase in farm real estate values to strong commodity prices, outside investments, favorable interest rates, and continued commercial and residential development.

Source: Reuters News (08/03/07)