Why is a Good Valuation Essential in the Transfer of Rural Properties by Inheritance and Donation?

28 de February de 2025

The transfer of land and rural properties in a way other than buying and selling is very significant in Spain, where for a total of 156,000 sales transactions, there are 192,500 inherited and donated properties, which gives an idea of the importance of this form of transfer that is not on the market. The circumstance of the increase in deaths in 2020, which fell in 2021, rose in 2022, and had a significant reduction in 2023 and 2024, but still above 2019, is well known, which has determined a general increase in transfers by inheritance, although there are peculiarities by geographical areas and by types of cultivation.

As they do not form part of a market supply and demand, it is useful for different purposes to know the value of these properties and lands exactly, and in this sense, Euroval announces the acquisition of RuralData, the leading agricultural valuation platform, with one million records for 8,200 municipalities and 112,000 crops and uses, which allows for fast and reliable valuation reports. In this way, Euroval's services allow you to know the main variables that influence the value of a rural property, such as size, orography, location and ease of communications, as well as the dynamics of the crops and the comparison of yields with other similar properties.

In recent years, the importance of an appraisal has become prominent in the identification of specific circumstances related to the environment, such as the risk of floods or fires; but it is also found that prolonged periods of drought are relevant for valuations. Within the general increase in prices of rural properties, of an average of 5% per year, it is observed that, in the production of nuts, the prices of irrigated properties fall slightly, while non-irrigated properties rise sharply. Although the price of irrigated properties is still in some regions 2.3 times higher than that of non-irrigated properties, the dynamics of the drought periods and their recent recovery makes a professional valuation of this issue necessary within the factors that influence the price of the rural property.