Resource information
The price of agricultural land and arable land is particularly low in Estonia when compared to Western European countries. The demand for agricultural land was low during the first decade after the collapse of the Soviet agriculture system. The situation is changing and the demand for agricultural land is increasing at the present time. Yet, simultaneously, the formation of arable land prices is not studied much. There are several factors affecting land prices and spatial characteristics are among them. The aim of the study is to estimate the impact of spatial characteristics of land parcels on the price of arable land in Estonia. Correlation and regression analyses were used in order to find the possible impact of spatial characteristics (e.g. soil productivity, access conditions and distance from cities) on arable land prices. Data about the 86 rural municipalities were used for the study. The results of the study show that the impact of spatial characteristics of land explains about 20 percent of the arable land price variation. Quality of land and the access conditions to land plots had a statistically significant impact on arable land prices. The impact of the distance from cities and the shape of arable land plots on arable land prices were not detected in the study.
