Excerpts from the report: Farm mortgages recorded by principal lender groups in the first quarter of 1961 averaged $10,990 in size, carried an average interest rate of 5.79 percent, and were written for an average term of 16.1 years. The average size of loan secured by farm real estate was nearly 10 percent larger than the average two years earlier. The average term was longer by 1.3 years, and the average interest rate was higher (0.38 percentage point) than in the first quarter of 1959. These findings are from tabulations and analysis of nearly 48,000 farm mortgages recorded in approximately 1,600 counties in the United States during the first quarter of 1961. Data for this biennial survey were obtained by the Farm Credit Administration through secretary-treasurers of Federal land bank associations, county recorders, and others. A sample of life insurance companies also was surveyed to obtain supplementary data on the mortgages recorded by them. Data on the mortgages recorded by the Farmers Home Administration (FHA) and production credit associations (PCA's)--interest rate, term, and size--are published for the first time in this series.
