Rural property 'in high demand'

Thursday, February 18th 2010

Property prices in rural areas could rise after a survey found an increasing demand for such investments.

According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) rural market survey, farmland prices rose at the end of last year.

Throughout the recession, prices of such property remained resilient, which may be a contributing factor to such interest in these options.

Residential farmland has seen a turnaround in the past year, with one per cent more surveyors noting a rise rather than a fall in demand for such land in the second half of 2009.

This is particularly impressive given the fact that 30 per cent of Rics members noted the inverse effect in the first half of the year.

Spokesperson for the organisation Sue Steer said: "Those with land are loath to dispose of it and those without, or with a limited supply, are keen to get into the market and capitalise on its rising value."

Rics has some 100,000 qualified members and more than 50,000 students and trainees globally.