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29
Iowa Farmland Increased 25.4% in Value
The value of cropland across the state of Iowa is dramatically on the rise, along with high demand. "Demand for cropland in our area is the strongest I've ever seen," said Tom Marcus, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtor in the Maquoketa area, who has been selling farmland since 1975. "In greatest demand is high quality cropland Corn Suitability Rating of 80 or higher, followed by average Corn Suitability Rating of 60+, which includes a lot of land in our area." The Land Trends and Value Survey, presented by the Iowa Farm and Land Chapter #2 REALTORS Land Institute, reported a statewide average increase of cropland values of 25.4% for the year from March 1, 2010 to March 1, 2011. The survey attributed the increase to several contributing factors, including strong commodity prices, favorable long-term interest rates, limited amount of land offered for sale, lack of alternative investments, higher livestock prices and fear of inflation. "The combination of strong demand and short supply of land has only been further fueled by high commodity prices in both grains and livestock," said Eric Schlutz, Ruhl&Ruhl Realtor in the Muscatine area and Manager of the Muscatine Office. Not many farms are currently being offered for sale in our area due to the good grain sales and good cash rents, Marcus said, adding that this is a large factor in land values increasing recently. For the survey, participants are asked to estimate the average value of farmland as of March 1, 2011. These estimates are for bare, unimproved land with a sale price on a cash basis. Pasture and timberland values were also requested as supplemental information. All nine Iowa crop reporting districts showed an increase. The districts varied from a 15.9% increase in Central Iowa to a 26% increase in West Central Iowa from just September 201 to March 2011. The East Central district, where the majority of Ruhl&Ruhl offices are located increased 19.9% in the past six months and the Northeast district, where the company's Dubuque office is located, increased 19.3%. "With the high grain prices and great long-term prospect for grain sales domestically and foreign sales, the farmers in eastern Iowa have a very positive outlook for the future," Marcus added. A family-owned company since 1862, Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS annually sells nearly 3,800 homes in eastern Iowa, western Illinois and southwestern Wisconsin. Caroline Ruhl is the President and owner of Ruhl&Ruhl REALTORS, and is the fourth generation of the Ruhl family to lead the residential brokerage and home services company. Headquartered in Davenport, Iowa, the company has 250 sales associates and 50 employees based in sales offices located in Bettendorf, Cedar Rapids, Clinton, Coralville, Davenport, DeWitt, Dubuque, Maquoketa, and Muscatine, in Iowa, and in Moline, Illinois. In addition to residential sales, Ruhl&Ruhl offers services in relocation, new home sales, farm and land sales, senior services, real estate investment, property management and mortgage services through 1862 Mortgage. For more information on Ruhl&Ruhl, visit their website at www.RuhlHomes.com .
