Northland farm sales drop over summer

The $13,304/ha median price for 13 Northland grazing farms sold for the three months ended January 31 exceeded the $11,828/ha median for the 113 grazing farms sold nationally in that period.

Northland had 25 fewer farm sales for the three months ended January 2018 than for the same period a year earlier, with the 32 sales for the region recorded by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) in the latest tally consisting of 13 grazing, five finishing and eight dairy farms, four forestry blocks and two horticulture properties.

Ten of the other 13 regions in New Zealand also had reduced farm sales for the three months ended January 2018, with the REINZ noting a drop of 125 from 521 farm sales in summer last year to 396 farm sales in the three months to January this year.

REINZ rural spokesman Brian Peacocke said summer had been a quieter period for farm sales in Northland with limited listings.

Marginal dairy units being considered for beef and there is strong demand in the Far North for land for planting avocados, albeit water consents ... are a constraint.

"Purchasers are being very selective, but good quality properties are drawing a good response," he said. "Marginal dairy units being considered for beef and there is strong demand in the Far North for land for planting avocados, albeit water consents for such plantings are a constraint."

Finishing farms were again the most valuable pastoral properties sold in Northland, with the median sales price of $31,096/ha for the five which changed hands in the region for the three months ended January 2018 below the $37,361/ha for regional finishing farm sales in December but still ahead of the $30,328/ha median for the 100 finishing farms sold nationally for the three months to January 31.

The 13 Northland grazing farms which fetched a median sales price of $13,304/ha for the three months ended January 2018 also compared favourably with the $11,828/ha median for the 113 grazing farms sold nationally in that period.

The four Northland forestry blocks which made an $8981/ha sales median for the three months ended January 31 — up from $4676/ha in December 2017 — were also ahead of the $8800/ha median for 10 forestry sales nationally to January.

But the $13,292/ha median price for the eight Northland dairy farms sold for the three months ended January 2018 was below half of the $37,235/ha median for the 96 dairy farms averaging 100ha sold nationally over summer, down from $40,484/ha for the three months ended December 2017 (79 properties), and $44,322 (94 properties) for the three months ended January 2017.

The median price per hectare for dairy farms has decreased 16 per cent over the past 12 months. On a price per kilogram of milksolids, the median sales price was $36.91 kgMS for the three months ended January 2018, compared to $36.67 kgMS for the three months ended December 2017 and $39.75 kgMS for the three months ended January 2017.

The $174,613 median price for the two Northland horticulture properties sold for the three months ended January 2018 was substantially below the S205,807/ha median for 47 orchards averaging eight hectares sold nationally in the same period, which was down from $242,988/ha a month earlier.

Meanwhile, 190 Northland lifestyle blocks fetched a median sales price of $450,000 for the three months ended January 2018, up from $415,000 in December and aligned with the $455,000 median for Northland lifestyle block sales at this time last year.

Nationally there were 1726 lifestyle property sales in the three months ended January 2018, compared to 1959 for the three months ended January 2017 and 1826 for the three months ended December 2017.

The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to January 2018 was $657,250 and was $74,250 higher compared to the three months ended January 2017.

Brian Peacocke said: "Sales figures for the three-month period ending January 2018 confirm the easing trend that has emerged in recent months. The holiday period aside, the number of lifestyle properties sold in January 2018 is down 23 per cent from the number sold in December 2017, making it the lowest monthly number of sales since January 2015."