Since last year, the price of agricultural land has begun to rise again. According to BAALO data, the appreciation of agricultural land is between 5% and 7%. “Interestingly enough, the lower limit of this growth already represents a minimum of 5% within just one year, which is not at all insignificant. The prices of the productive regions have already risen up to 1000 BGN per acre, and this is only the starting price at which they are negotiated”, states Mr Stayko Staykov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Owners of Agricultural Land (BAALO), in an interview taken by AgroClub.
Traditionally, the most expensive agricultural land is in Dobrudja region, where deals are concluded for about 2000 BGN per acre or even higher. However, there is no serious supply. In the north, there is no longer cheap agricultural land, except for the districts near the Balkan region and Stara Planina Mountains. In the most attractive regions of southern Bulgaria-near Burgas, Stara Zagora, Plovdiv and Pazardjik, the price per acre is between 800-1000 BGN. In some territories of Stara Zagora region there are prices of 1100-1200 BGN/acre, and there are single deals for 1500 BGN/acre. The lowest prices are in Strandja, Sakar, Haskovo and Harmanli, as well as in Kardjali and Smolyan, where arable land is scarce. A similar situation is witnessed along the Struma River, where Greek companies have been working for years. Prices do not go above 1000 BGN per acre, clarifies Mr Staykov.
The owners of agricultural land expect future trends for increased demand for agricultural land because of its limited nature: "In the past year, we actually focused on buying and not on selling land. Now we also continue to buy and limit sales. Another incentive is the low threshold at which agricultural business can be started, especially when it comes to young farmers. We've had very good profits, and they're related to trading agricultural land. Last year, we intentionally abstained from selling taking into account that the price of the land was rising, but we had lower results. “This tendency is known to all our shareholders”, commented BAALO’s Chairman.
According to Stayko Staykov, land prices will continue to rise in the next 10 years despite the development of the CAP. There will be no upheavals such as sharp dips or fluctuations but rather balanced agricultural land demand and supply.
The full text of the interview with the Chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Owners of Agricultural Land (BAALO) – Mr Stayko Staykov, can be found on the AgroClub.bg website. In addition to discussing the development of the agricultural land market, we are also talking about the problems with the so-called “white spots”, as well as about BAALO’s vision for the efficient use and development of land resources in the context of the new CAP 2021-2027
Source: https://AGROCLUB.BG