Produced by UPM Tilhill and international property services company Savills, the report found that the average plantation price is £2,358 per ha, an increase of 60% over the last four years, with the average transaction in 2006 valued at £289,000.
This has led Savills to state that the market is “strongly rising” and that further price increases should be expected.
“The year to September 2006 concluded in the most positive mood that the market has seen for some time,” said Ewan Berkeley from Savills.
“The forestry market remains very buoyant with numbers of buyers exceeding sellers.”
UPM Tilhill added that the green credentials of forestry at a time of increasing concern about protecting the environment were drawing investors in and making “the merits of sustainably grown UK timber…impossible to beat”.
