After falling prices in the first half of the year, the average price of arable land shot up to its highest level ever in the third quarter. Grassland followed the opposite path and has actually become cheaper over the past three months.
Of all the developments in the land market, the sharp price increase for arable land is the most striking. In the third quarter, the price rose by over 8% to €106.500 per hectare, according to research by the Land Registry and Wageningen Economic Research.
In the second half of 2024, the price of arable land per hectare nationwide soared above €100.000. After peaking at the end of last year, prices fell in the first six months of this year. In the second quarter, the national average even dropped below €100,000 per hectare. After two quarters of declining prices, prices have started to rise again, so much so that a new record of €106.500 per hectare was set in one fell swoop.
Cornland prices are also rising, albeit slightly less steeply than arable land. Nevertheless, a 5,1% price increase for cornland is significant, bringing the national average for this land to €95.600 per hectare. This makes cornland considerably more expensive than grassland.
Grassland prices fell by 3,4% after rising for three consecutive quarters. Nevertheless, the average price remains above €80.000 per hectare. Moreover, grassland is still 2,3% more expensive than last year's average.
In the past three months, 5.200 hectares of agricultural land changed hands. This represents slightly more land trade than in the same quarter of 2024. This is consistent with the trend, as almost 12% more land was traded in the past twelve months than in the same period before.
Strongest decline in Zeeland
At the provincial level, Zeeland saw the sharpest decline in land prices; the moving average over the past four quarters fell by 2,3% to €94.300 per hectare compared to the period from July 2024 to June 2025. Utrecht (+4,3%) and North Holland (+3,5%) showed the strongest increases.
Prices are also still rising in Drenthe, Gelderland, Overijssel, North Brabant, and Limburg. It's striking that land prices are stabilizing in the provinces with the highest and lowest prices: Flevoland and Friesland.