Surge in Northland farm sales

The six Northland dairy units sold in the three months to February 29 averaged 153ha and made a median $11,065 a hectare.The price median for the 76 dairy farm sales nationally in the same period was $36,687 a hectare, down from $45,105 a hectare a year earlier.

The 58 farms sold in Northland in the three months to February 29 was the largest regional increase in sales volumes (up 26 per cent) in the country over that period and nearly double the 32 sold in the region at the same time last year.

Northland lifestyle property sales also increased substantially from 164 for the three months ended February 2015 to 230 for the past three months.

Real Estate Institute of New Zealand sales figures show there were 474 farm sales nationally in the three months ended February 2016, 10 more than the 464 farms sold in the same period a year earlier.

A total of 1779 farms were sold nationally in the year to February 2016, 1.7 per cent fewer than were sold in the year to February 2015.

REINZ rural spokesman Brian Peacocke highlighted good farming conditions in Northland with reports of a number of potential purchasers from outside the region.

There had been steady sales of grazing blocks but light volumes of dairy and finishing properties, he said.

Six of the 58 farms sold in Northland to February 29 were dairy units, five were finishing farms, 38 grazing properties, 8 horticulture blocks and one special farm.

The median size of the six Northland dairy units sold was 153ha and they fetched a median $11,065 a hectare; down on the $13,908 median price for dairy farms in the region a year earlier.

But that price fall followed the national trend with the median of $36,687 per hectare for 76 dairy farm sales nationally in the three months to February down from $45,105 a hectare a year earlier.

The 38 grazing properties forming the bulk of the latest Northland farm sales fetched a median price of $10,794 a hectare, well up on the $8649 per hectare median for grazing sales in the region a year earlier but still short of the $15,484 a hectare median for the 216 grazing properties sold nationally in the past three months.

The five Northland finishing farms sold in the three months to February 29 averaged 25ha and fetched a median $23,033 a hectare, more than four times the $5525 median for regional farm sales in this category a year earlier. The median price for the 74 finishing farms sold nationally in the past three month was $24,046 a hectare.

The eight horticulture blocks sold in Northland averaged four hectares and had a median sales price of $170,075 a hectare - a very substantial increase on the $128,552 a hectare median for sales a year earlier. The 54 horticulture blocks sold nationally in the past three months had a median sales price of $254,448 a hectare.

Meanwhile, the 230 Northland lifestyle properties sold had a median sales price of $375,000, compared with a $345,000 sales median a year earlier.

Overall there were 2031 lifestyle properties sold in the three months ended February 2016 and 8416 lifestyle properties sold in the year.

The median national price for the lifestyle three-month sales was $543,000, with the Auckland region topping sales with a median $960,000 and West Coast the lowest region of on $222,500.