Farmland continues to climb in the Midwest, with some areas seeing a 25 percent increase in the past year and reaching its highest increase in 30 years, CNNMoney reports from two recent Federal Reserve surveys.

“District farmland values surged to a record high in the third quarter,” according to a survey by the Kansas City Federal Reserve, released this week. “Cropland values rose more than 25 percent over the past year, and ranchland values increased 14 percent.”

Nebraska alone is reporting about a 40 percent jump in farmland prices compared to last year. Iowa farmland values have soared 31 percent from last year’s third quarter. Also, farmland values in the Chicago district have seen values jump 7 percent from just the previous quarter.

“The surveys indicate that good credit conditions, successful harvests, and elevated levels of farming income helped to contribute to this large surge in an already strong agricultural property market,” CNNMoney reports.

Source: “Farmland Prices in the Midwest Soar,” CNNMoney (Nov. 16, 2011)

After eight weeks of declines, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, a popular choice among home buyers, edged up this week but still remains low by historical standards. Meanwhile, the 15-year mortgage continued to reach new lows for the year, Freddie Mac reports in its weekly mortgage market survey.

Here’s a closer look at how rates fared for the week.

• 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.50 percent, up just slightly from last week’s 4.49 percent. Last year at this time, the 30-year rate mortgage averaged 4.75 percent.
• 15-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.67 percent for the week, which is down from last week’s 3.68 percent. That marks its lowest level since November 2010. Last year at this time, the 15-year rate mortgage averaged 4.20 percent.
• 5-year adjustable-rate mortgage averaged 3.27 percent, down from last week’s 3.28 percent average. A year ago at this time, the 5-year ARM averaged 3.89 percent.

Overall, “mortgage rates were little changed this week as financial market participants shrugged off the recent inflation reports,” says Frank Nothaft, chief economist of Freddie Mac.

Source: “Mortgage Rates Mixed; 30-Year Fixed Ticks Up to 4.50 Percent,” Freddie Mac (June 16, 2011)