He did add, however, that the dairy side had been a little bit quieter than sheep, beef, grazing and horticulture.
Newbold put this disparity down to the complexity of owning a dairy property and the need for a lot more due diligence when weighing up an investment.
Mackay also raised the issue of carbon farming and its propensity for taking over valuable pastoral land.
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Newbold agreed that while carbon farming was good for the vendors, there was no question it' was over-inflating the value of rural properties and putting younger farmers out of the market.
In his view, there was a pressing need to revisit the rules and regulations around carbon farming.
Mackay asked about horticulture – especially kiwifruit.
He asked Newbold why there was a large number of kiwifruit farms coming onto the market.
Newbold said there had been a real shortage over the last couple of years and kiwifruit farmers had held on to their properties as returns had been fantastic – and still were.
Now people were retiring, they were looking at succession or they were re-developing new blocks, so a number of high-quality kiwifruit farms were coming to market, Newbold said.
There was a lot of interest so it would be interesting to see where prices go, Newbold said.
He reckoned there might be a few more record prices paid.
Mackay and Newbold wrapped the interview by taking a look at PGG Wrightson's property of the week: Perfection in Paengaroa
