There have been no dramatic changes in the transaction volumes or prices of small and medium-sized forest properties in recent years. This is revealed in the latest forest property market review by Suomen Sijoitusmets\u00e4t Oy. <\/p>\n\n
The review examined nationwide forest property transactions over the past 3.5 years.<\/p>\n\n
The largest change in the industry since 1 January 2016 has been the shift in market focus from Northern Finland further south, following the depletion of UPM Bonvesta\u2019s property supply.<\/p>\n\n
Prices per hectare and per cubic metre have risen steadily during the review period. The only clear jump in the statistics is found in the size category of the largest transactions, i.e., those exceeding \u20ac500,000. However, the largest category in terms of transaction volume represents only 68 transactions out of a total of over 4,200 forest property sales; thus, behind the skyrocketing curves lie a few individual transactions of forest properties that are more heavily forested and more valuable in terms of their price per cubic metre than average. <\/p>\n\n
The true market price level of forest properties is best described by the Market Price Index, which takes into account regional changes in supply as well as changes in property characteristics. It has risen by 7.2 per cent over the two-year review period. <\/p>\n\n
Between the major regions, the change in the Market Price Index is distributed such that the index is slightly rising in Central and Southern Finland, while it remains nearly flat in Northern Finland. In Lapland, the low volume of transactions creates significant fluctuation in the index between quarters, though it ended with an upward trend in the second quarter of 2019. <\/p>\n