The other interesting thing which could be positive for rural New Zealand was that, probably for the first time in two or three years, PGG had sold a large number of high-value farms and had a number under contract - probably twenty million-plus, Newbold said.
He reckoned it suggested a lot of confidence that people still saw rural as a good place to either expand into or add to what they’d already got.
Duncum highlighted feedback she’d received over the summer expressing delight that neighbouring properties in the area or properties they’d heard of in their district had actually sold to farmers’ groups - not to overseas buyers, not to carbon farms.
Newbold agreed it was a pleasing development. However, he said a number had still gone to forestry - which was great for the vendor, but personally sad for New Zealand.
Duncum asked Newbold what else he’d noticed over the summer break.
According to Newbold they’d completed a lot more appraisals and were probably putting more listings onto the market in February which he saw as encouraging.
As people start to understand where values sit, we’ll start to see those property sales move on, he said.
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Finally, Duncum asked Newbold to polish his crystal ball and share his outlook for the year.
Newbold predicted rural sales would continue on and different regions might come to the fore. He also reckoned the sheep and beef sector would still be underpinned by forestry.
The unknown property at the moment was horticulture and kiwifruit, and Newbold said he probably won’t get a good take on that until four to six weeks’ time.
The other critical piece was that as vendors’ expectations became more realistic, there would be more transactions, he said.
Newbold didn’t think the market was going to “boom” but he did expect good rural sales.
While the residential and lifestyle market would slowly move forward, Newbold emphasised that the critical thing was that people needed to be realistic - otherwise it won’t sell.
On the rural side, there were probably fewer buyers at the moment but they were qualified and vendors needed to be aware of that, Newbold warned.
