By MICHELE F. MIHALJEVICH
Indiana Correspondent

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. — The sales volume from the auctions of farm equipment and agricultural land increased last year for one northeastern Indiana auction company, despite the economic slowdown.

For Schrader Real Estate & Auction Co., Inc. of Columbia City, sales of farm equipment auctioned last year increased 15 percent over 2007, said Rex Schrader, the company’s president. While the sales volume increased, the number of auctions remained the same, he said.

“The auctions were larger and the price of farm equipment was up,” he said. “We do 50 farm equipment sales and 165 real estate auctions a year.”

Sales figures for auctioned land increased 30 percent for the company last year over 2007, Schrader said. Almost 90 percent of the land the company auctions is agricultural. “Last year saw a record income for farmers,” he said. “The agricultural economy has had two really good years. Because of that, they’re buying farmland and they’re buying farm equipment.”

Schrader’s sales somewhat mirror the results of a national survey, which stated agricultural machinery and equipment auctions saw gross sales revenues increase 1.9 percent in 2008 over 2007. The survey, by the National Auctioneers Assoc. (NAA) of Overland Park, Kan., found that sales of land and agricultural real estate increased 0.5 percent in 2008.

Overall, according to the survey, about $268.4 billion in goods and services were sold at auctions nationwide, down slightly less than 1 percent from 2007.

“The biggest drops are pretty logical,” Schrader said. “Automobile sales really dropped, and that carried the overall numbers down. Residential and commercial real estate carried it down. But the price of land and the price of farm equipment brought it back up.”
Automobile sales dropped 5.4 percent, according to the survey. Residential real estate increased 1.1 percent, but commercial real estate dropped 1.4 percent.

“The results of the industry survey are consistent with what we continually hear from auctioneers across the country,” said Randy Wells, NAA president, in a statement. “While some sectors of the industry have been impacted by the economy, others have grown or held strong. Consumers continue to attend auctions to find treasures and sellers continue to utilize professional auctioneers to help turn their assets into cash.”

Aumann Auctions Inc., of Nokomis, Ill., saw growth of 20 percent last year, said Kurt Aumann, the company’s CEO.

“That’s directly attributable to sales of farmland and antique tractors,” he said.

The Midwest is better off than some parts of the country when it comes to land values, he said.

“We didn’t see that massive price run-up a few years ago,” he explained. “Ours was more gradual. Now that things have gone south, we don’t see those massive price drops they’ve seen in other areas.”

While the NAA study found a nationwide drop in sales volume for art, antiques and collectibles, Aumann’s sales remained strong in those areas, he said. Gross revenues for art, antiques and collectibles dropped 9.3 percent nationwide last year, the NAA study found.

“We’re seeing strong interest in anything that’s remotely rare or hard to get,” Aumann said.

The only area in which Aumann saw sales decrease last year was residential housing, he said. If January 2009 farmland sales are any indication, this could be another good year, Aumann said. “We sold 4,000 acres in January,” he said. “That exceeded all our expectations. It was all production farmland.”

Land values continue to increase, making land a target for investors, Schrader said, adding that 2009 may see fewer equipment sales because with the farm economy generally strong, there aren’t many active farmers selling.

“This year, I think we’ll see more of a steady market,” he said. “It’s going to be really hard to beat last year.”