Iowa Land Auction Prices, January 20-26, 2017

Greetings!  Fewer acres were offered at auction this week compared to last week’s results.  There was a total of 1,312 acres offered at auction.  Of those acres, there were 1,006 tillable.  All farms were sold and there were no “no sales.”  I would describe the land market as very stable.  Here are the highlights:

• 384 acres sold in Cherokee County- $4,300/acre- 177 tillable acres- CSR2- 86.8 (Mill Creek Bottom)
• 144 acres sold in Butler County- $9,340/acre- 144 tillable acres- CSR2- 82
• 156 acres sold in Lyon County- offered in two tracts- purchased as single unit- $11,000/acre- 152 tillable acres- CSR2- 73.0
• 200 acres sold in Montgomery County- $6,650/acre- 183 tillable acres- CSR2- 75.0 (Buyer to pay tenant $7,809 for P&K & fall tillage- not included in sale price).
• 153 acres sold in Scott County- $7,050/acre- 137 tillable acres- CSR2- 72.0 (Buyer to pay tenant $16,794 for P&K and fall tillage. Not included in sale price.)
• 40 acres sold in Osceola County- $11,200/acre- 39 tillable acres- CSR2- 90.0
• 689 acres offered in 4 tracts- These tract were south of Hamburg, IA and were in three states (Iowa, Missouri, & McKissick Island, Nebraska):
  • Tract 1- 230 acres- sold- $4,800/acre- 185 tillable acres- CSR2- 71.0 (100% in Iowa)
  • Tract 2- 45 acres- sold- $3,900/acre- 28 tillable acres- CSR2- 75.0 (approximately ½ in Iowa and ½ in Missouri)
  • Tracts 3 & 4 were on McKissick Island, Nebraska and did not meet the reserve

Property taxes make a difference in land prices.  One of the auctions this past week had land in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, all of which were near Hamburg, Iowa.  Of the 689 acres being offered at this auction, approximately 420 were located on McKissick Island, NE. This area is located in Nemaha County, NE, east of the Missouri River just south of Hamburg, IA.  The property taxes on this portion of land were almost $70/acre, not including drainage tax.  The land that was sold in Iowa had property taxes at $25+/-/acre and in Missouri, property taxes were $4+/-/acre.  According to the realtor, the buyers who were interested in the McKissick Island land discounted the tracts by at least $1,500/acre.  I think this is something everyone should know as high property taxes do affect land values negatively.

“That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!”  Please check back next week to see what the Iowa land market is doing.

Jim “the Land Talker”

@TheLandTalker
Monthly Iowa land auction results email:  Click here to subscribe.