If you’ve been in the market for farm property over the last year, it will come as no surprise that economists are talking about a “bottoming out” of land values.

A newly released ANZ land report says while commodity prices continue to rise, the value of production isn’t reflected in farm prices.

The report talks about the possibility of a “market floor” being reached, as farmers look to recapitalise and reduce debt rather than expand.

But real estate analyst Don Fraser says confidence will be high, and we may see an increase in market activity before winter.

“I think we’ll probably see quite a bit of activity before June.

"If you sit down and think about the world situation, food prices are only going to go up.

"We’re going to see the world getting seriously short of food, generally.”

Don Fraser says in the meantime it will be business as usual as people look to take advantage of great returns.

"They are looking better, the payout’s better, the banks will start coming back in the market wanting deals.

"There’s a little bit of activity in the market at the moment, and confidence is a slow thing to build up.”

The latest data on farm sales were up during the three months to November 2010 on the previous period, while median prices also rose.

In context though, these were only relative to the record lows seen in the period to October last year.

Figures to December are expected out this week, and we will bring you results as we receive them.