"Weather patterns across the country contained extremes in temperatures and either a shortage or a surplus in rainfall, dependent upon the locations being the deep south, north Canterbury or the Waikato where continual wet weather has been a frustration. The bud-burst of spring is keenly anticipated," he said.
Thirty of the 54 Northland farms sold in the three months ended July 31 were grazing units, six finishing, six dairy and eight horticulture.
The median sales price for the Northland grazing land was $11,072 a hectare, up from $4545 for sales in the three months to June this year and just under the $12,174 median per hectare which Northland grazing farms fetched in the three months to July last year.
The six Northland horticulture properties sold in the three months to July 31 had a median sales price of $149,684 a hectare, up on the June median of $130,138.
Mr Peacocke highlighted horticulture as a strong national market dominated by widespread demand for kiwifruit orchards and a shortage of listings in the Bay of Plenty, with particularly strong sales activity in Marlborough where the amalgamation of smaller vineyards has been a feature in tandem with quality sheep and beef land being purchased for planting sauvignon blanc vines.
Strong prices for logs have regenerated interest in this sector and the median sales price for the four blocks of Northland forestry land sold in the three months to July this year was $11,072 a hectare, down from $12,500 in June but well ahead of the $3909 median for forestry sales in July last year.
There was strong demand across the country for good beef finishing properties, with the six sold in Northland in the three months to July 31 having a median sales price of $11,544 a hectare, the same as in June and down on the $14,564 median for sales in July last year.
Prices were up to $35,614 a hectare for the 32 dairy farms averaging 121ha sold nationally in the three months to July 31, with the six sold in Northland fetching $11,321 a hectare, down on the $19,203 median for sales at the same time last year.
On a price per kilogram of milksolids basis, the national median sales price was $33.62kgMS for the three months ended July 2016, compared to $30.40kgMS for the three months ended June 2016 (+10.6 per cent), and $37.50kgMS for the three months ended July 2015 (-10.4 per cent).
The median production per hectare across all dairy farms sold in July 2016 was 858kgMS.
Meanwhile, Northland reached a record high median price of $399,500 for the 300 lifestyle properties sold in the region in the three months to July 2016.
There were 2455 lifestyle property sales nationally in the three months ended July 2016 compared to 2480 lifestyle property sales for the three months ended June 2016 (-1%), and 2111 for the three months ended July 2015.
The 9063 lifestyle properties sold in the year to July 2016 is now the largest number of lifestyle properties sold in a 12-month period in the past 20 years. The value of lifestyle properties sold also reached a new record of $6.81 billion for the year.
The median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to June 2016 rose by $15,000 to $570,000 compared with $555,000 recorded for three months ended June 2015. The median price fell $10,000) compared with June.
