By Andrew Joseph, Farms.com, Image by Hans Braxmeier from Pixabay
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you are aware that Canada’s real estate market has been hotter than H-E-double hockey sticks. If you have considered selling your rock property, you can probably get a goodly amount.
The high prices currently being realized for properties has extended from residential to rural, with seemingly no end in sight. And the market seems to be driven by investors.
For those who are content in their current abode—do you ever wonder what the people selling are then moving into? Something more expensive? Are they downsizing?
Regardless, the real estate market is hot right now, and for our ag friends, the closer your property is to an urban area, the higher the prices being realized as urban consumers are looking to avoid the sprawl but still be near enough to take advantage of its conveniences.
Oh course, some people do want to get their Green Acres mojo and live their dream of being a farmer—some want to invest for reasons other than flipping for financial gain.
But will the boom last or will it go bust?
For those looking to sell, rejoice.
Per the 2022 Canadian Housing Market Outlook Report compiled by RE/MAX, it fully expects prices to rise by 9.2 percent from current levels in through the upcoming year owing to a continuation of inter-provincial migration trends.
Note that these trends are based on expectations from 1,554 Canadians responding to an online survey completed October 29-31, 2021.
While this 9.2 percent number is based on residential sales and does not include farmland acreage, it is prudent to keep in mind that no new farmland is being created in Canada.
Continued adoption of precision agriculture technologies will enable farmers to do more with less, a growing national population will continue to require its nutritional needs are met. Investors know this and continue to purchase farmland playing the long game.
Many Canadian cities have already taken steps to halt urban sprawl by increasing density in the cities instead of expanding the suburbs further out to rural landscapes, which farmland investors are aware of, too.
Where does leave the family wanting to purchase a farm and property in 2022?
Like everything in real estate, it boils down to location-location-location, but also what amenities the farm offers the buyer. No one is buying a cattle farm if they want to grow wheat.
Unlike the Dirty 30s—the so-called dustbowl decade when crop-providing topsoil degradation allowed it to be blown away, farmers across the US and Canada invoke good land stewardship practices as they ply their trade.
For the would-be gentleman farmer looking for a hobby farm, money is not the object. For those looking to be a cash-crop farmer, expect to pay a premium as you go against long-play land investors who will purchase and rent/lease the property to other local-area farms.
Will prices slow down, remain flat, increase or plummet? Yes, to all four.
You should continue to enjoy your rock until such time as you are ready to sell, buy or invest. At that time contact one of the many capable farm real estate agents or companies: https://www.farms.com/farm-real-estate/farm-real-estate-companies-and-agents/