Reports today that agricultural land prices are soaring. It seems depending on the region, prices can be in excess of £10,000 / acre, I've certainly seen prime agricultural going in Somerset for that price for some time.
Of course forestry or woodlands are a different market, often in areas where arable crops won't grow. I had a word with Cleggs and asked them to comment before I did this post, to get their take on the state of play with Forestry prices. Theirs is very much a commercial market for larger plots, driven by timber prices which are dependant on the international economic climate.
As a rough guide, they said forestry had outperformed agricultural prices over the last 5 years, despite the timber market being subdued and yet to fully recover from the '07 recession. They reckon forest prices have increased by around 20-25% in the last 2 years. Prices for Clegg's individual woods will depend on the value of the timber stand, its age and stage in the harvesting / rotation cycle. They saw the market for small recreational woods, particularly those from larger subdivided woods as different to theirs, but the trend reflecting similar price moves.
Most of us haven't bought our woods as financial investments, but it is reassuring to know that our little patches are more than maintaining their value, and would likely cost quite a bit more in the future if sold than we paid for them. If your plan is to use your wood for recreation, nature, crafts and hobby forestry, its both enjoyable and a nice asset to be sitting on. I would hope though that small woods don't start to be over promoted as 'investment opportunities' targeted at individuals hoping to make a quick buck, that has spoilt other enthusiasts hobby markets by attracting speculators and pushing out more long term genuine participants.
