Newbold also noted the number of late listings coming through in the autumn.
Pricing had taken place already and buyers seemed to be happy with the current level - and the buyer pool was small and very discerning, he said.
Mackay remarked on a tightening up by the banks, saying it seemed that if you wanted to buy a farm at the moment, you needed a pretty good case.
Newbold agreed.
He said a big factor was where values currently sat and that in some areas they had dropped off.
Mackay then popped the difficult question - in percentage terms, how much had the rural market dropped by?
Newbold said this was a tough one, as you needed to look at it between all the different categories.
Therefore, he was naturally reluctant to put a percentage on it.
However, there was definitely movement down in all categories, he said.
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Factors like proximity to town, soil and improvements to the property must be taken into account as well, Newbold said.
Mackay threw out a number: 10 to 20 per cent.
Newbold reckoned that could fit with a lot of properties at the moment.
Finally, Mackay touched on the lifestyle market which saw a boom during Covid. He wanted to know what was happening now.
Newbold believed values were at the bottom of the cycle and the challenge would be how it looked in spring.
The upcoming election may stall things but the thinking was there would be more activity coming into spring, he said.
