Farmers hold tight to capital

Farm sales have quietened, due to a shortage of listings in Northland. Photo / File

Northland's dairy farm market is flat but likely to improve thanks to recent milk price increases and lifestyle sales are up

Only one Northland dairy farm was sold in the three months to September 30, which Real Estate Institute rural spokesman Brian Peacocke attributed to an acute shortage of listings.

The median sales price per hectare for the Northland dairy farm was $11,947 - far below the median of $25,108 a hectare paid for the 11 dairying properties sold nationally over the three months.

Median production per hectare for all dairy farms sold in September was 759kg/MS.
Mr Peacocke said spring sunshine, warmer temperatures, good prospects for beef and lamb and the slow turnaround of the dairy industry were combining to lift morale in the rural sector.

"The latest payout price from Fonterra and the lift in the Global Dairy Trade auction prices have stimulated a collective sigh of relief among dairy farmers."

"While the problems are not yet solved, the signals indicate operational losses for the season may be less than anticipated. The current levels of interest rates and exchange rates are additional positive factors within the mix."

Mr Peacocke said there was steady activity on Northland beef farms up to $12,500 a hectare and Real Estate Institute figures show 38 Northland grazing properties were sold in the three months to September 30 for a median price of $9868 a hectare.

Nationally, 152 grazing properties averaging 59ha were sold for a median price of $15,966 a hectare, down from $16,998 a hectare for the 175 grazing farms sold in the three months to August.

Four Northland horticultural properties sold in the three months to September 30 for a median price of $138,724 a hectare. Fifty-eight horticultural farms averaging 8ha sold nationally for a median $166,552 a hectare, compared to $149,763 a hectare for 54 properties sold nationally a year earlier.

Three Northland finishing farms sold in the three months to September 30 at a median price of $9213 a hectare, down from $9929 a hectare for Northland finishing farms sold a year earlier.

Sixty-five finishing farms sold nationally in the three months to September 30 for $25,414 a hectare.

Two Northland forestry blocks sold in the three months to September 30 fetched $35,853 a hectare, similar to the price paid for sales recorded in August and far ahead of the $5684 median price per hectare for Northland forestry land sold in September last year.

Meanwhile, lifestyle block sales are continuing to increase with Northland sales up 133 to 401 for the three months to September 30, while nationally sales of lifestyle blocks increased to 2075 - up 598 (+40.5 per cent) on the tally for September 2014.

The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to September rose by $30,000 - to $535,000 compared to $505,000 for the comparable three month period that ended August 2014.