Fewer farms were sold in the three months through July as difficult winter conditions dented activity, although prices lifted due to improved farmer confidence, the Real Estate Institute said.
Across the country, 392 farms were sold in the three months ended July, down from 459 farm sales in the three months to June, and 468 farm sales for the same period a year earlier, REINZ said. The median price per hectare increased to $27,158 in the latest period, up 4.5 per cent from the three months to June, and up 2.5 per cent from the same period a year earlier.
New Zealand farmer confidence has jumped to record levels this year, buoyed by improved commodity prices, according to the latest Rabobank quarterly survey. Farmers across all agricultural sectors were more positive about the outlook for the agricultural economy, with 71 per cent citing improved commodity prices as a key reason for increased optimism. This was particularly the case for dairy farmers, 77 per cent of whom cited improved commodity prices, and sheep and beef producers, at 66 per cent. However, land sales activity appears to have been hampered by particularly dismal winter weather.
"The reduction in sales volumes for the three month period ending July 2017 reflects the dormant winter period with farmers focusing on the seasonal issues of lambing and calving, activities which dependent upon location, will continue into August and September," said REINZ rural spokesman Brian Peacocke.
"Of interest and clearly stimulated by the recently announced increase in the milk payout and the current strong beef prices, an air of confidence, or perhaps relief, is quietly growing within the rural sector. However, in a number of areas throughout the country, that optimism has been tempered by recent persistent, heavy rainfall and extensive flooding, generating extremely difficult conditions for the wintering of cattle and calving of dairy cows in particular," he said.
