Last year’s average price per hectare of undeveloped land located in a farming zone in Wallonia was 26,002 euros, according to the second annual report of the Observatory of Walloon Agricultural Land presented on Wednesday by outgoing Minister of Agriculture René Collin, just a few miles from the Libramont Fair.
This average is based on 1,382 sales notified to the Observatory in 2018, which covered a total of 3,596 hectares.
But this regional average hides significant disparities between sub-regions. Indeed, the average price varies from 9,772 euros per hectare in the Haute Ardenne (54 sales, 86 ha) to more than 34,000 euros / ha in clay-soil areas (599 sales for 1,385 ha). In Famenne, the farmland price per hectare was on average more than 16,000 euros (100 sales, 309 ha) and more than 24,000 euros (164 sales, 655 ha) in the Condroz
The observatory is an information-gathering tool for the sale of agricultural property that was set up on 1 January 2017 in collaboration with the Federation of Notaries. It aims to portray the reality of the agricultural land price in Wallonia and to assist public decision within a context of land scarcity, speculation of actors unfamiliar with agriculture and/or foreign speculation, and increasingly difficult access to young farmers.
"This report provides a new snapshot of the Walloon agricultural land situation. But beyond the results, however, this tool, which has been put in place over several years now, will guide rationally the region’s strategy for its agricultural future," Collin said.
The Brussels Times
