578 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



May 244 238 



June 382 247 



July 367 255 



August 158 259 



September 16 276 



These prices were obtained in fifty-seven Iowa counties which in 1910 

 had land values that were 7 per cent higher than the average of the 

 state. Data from other sources which are representative of the state con- 

 firm the prices for August and September, but not for January and Feb- 

 ruary. The Bureau of Crop Estimates' figure for March 1, 1919, is $192 

 per acre for the state, while the average price of these January, Feb- 

 ruary and March sales is $240 per acre. It is probable that a higher 

 percentage of good farms sold at the beginning than at the end of the 

 advance, thus accounting for the difference between the actual sale price 

 of these farms sold and the state average. High prices for extra good 

 farms were soon interpreted as the price that was being paid for average 

 farms and was one of the causes for raising the state average. In the 

 early stages of the advance, the poorer grades of land did not sell easily, 

 but during the period of the greatest activity in buying and selling which 

 occurred later, many farms of the higher grades of land were taken off 

 the market. This resulted in an increased percentage of low-grade farms 

 which were sold in the last half of the period of the advance. It is safe 

 to assume that land advanced approximately $75 per acre during the year 

 and most of this increase was between March and September. 



(B) Terms of sale. 



Table II gives the per cent of purchase price paid at time of sale. 



No. of Per Cent Paid 



Purchasers. at Time of Sale. 



140 2 



631 5 



29 50 



17 100 



The small cash payment at the time of sale encourages many to buy 

 who cannot hope to pay for the land. Nearly 95 per cent of the buyers 

 last year paid less than 5 per cent at the time of purchase. 



Table III gives the per cent of purchase price paid March 1st: 



No. of Per Cent to be Paid 



Purchasers March 1, 1920. 



53 



865 1 or more 



543 25 or more 



150 50 or more 



Nearly 95 per cent of the total sales involved March 1, 1920, settle- 

 ment for about one-third of the purchase price. 



