Tulsa World: Energy boom, crop prices raising value of rural land in Kansas, Missouri

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Energy boom, crop prices raising value of rural land in Kansas, Missouri

By Associated Press
Published: 2/24/2008 2:31 PM
Last Modified: 2/24/2008 2:31 PM

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- While urban land prices are stifled by the housing slowdown, values for rural land across Kansas and Missouri are booming.

A recent survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City found that the price of nonirrigated and irrigated cropland in Kansas was up 20.4 percent and 18.8 percent, respectively, during the fourth quarter of last year, compared with the same period a year ago.

Values in western Missouri were up 24 percent and 13 percent, respectively, during the period. The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, which covers eastern Missouri, hasn’t released figures for that area.

By contrast to the rising levels, real estate prices in cities have largely stayed flat or declined.

“They are in opposite directions on the chart,” said Larry Kueser, a Miami County, Kan., real estate agent who specializes in rural land. “It’s a very interesting dynamic.”

Buyers have long valued rural property as an investment or for recreational uses. But experts said the most recent surge is being driven by skyrocketing crop prices, especially for materials used in biofuels. By Associated Press

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