However, REINZ’s All Farm Price Index, which adjusts for farm size, location and type, was up 9.6%.
“The increase in sales volumes for the three months to the end of January is an indication of the positive mood prevailing throughout the rural sector,” says REINZ rural spokesman Brian Peacocke. “Most regions are seeing solid demand for dairy, dairy support and sheep and beef properties.”
While grazing properties accounted for 42% of sales in the period, with 238 changing hands, dairy farm sales were the next most numerous at 127, or 23% of turnover, achieving a median price of $36,509/ha, down 4.6% on the $38,267/ha median for the three months ended December but up 2.8% on the $35,530/ha median across the 82 properties sold in the three months ended January 2013.
The median price movement appears to have been driven by some larger farms being sold in January, as the median size of farm sold in the month was 138ha, with the range being 42ha to 495ha, compared to a median size of 123ha for the three month period. As a consequence the median price for the 25 dairy farms sold in January was just $22,634/ha compared to the $36,509/ha median for the three months. Median production for the dairy farms sold in January was 639kgMS/ha.
The REINZ Dairy Farm Price Index was down 2.9% in the three months to January compared to the three months to December but up 7.8% compared to the period ending January 2013.
Breaking it down into regions, REINZ says the dairy farm market in Canterbury has plateaued with some syndicates selling to capitalise on development work, thereby releasing shareholders into the buying pool for smaller properties. Demand for the best properties in the region has been driven mainly by local buyers.
Meanwhile first farm purchasers have been extremely active in Northland where the market has become constrained by some vendors being subject to re-purchasing.
Waikato’s seen a strong market for quality properties resulting in strengthening enquiry in the lower priced categories, albeit with a hint of caution emerging with increasingly dry conditions.
Nelson/Marlborough’s seen strong enquiry for dairy support properties, suggesting a shortage of listings, while Southland’s seen steady demand for dairy farms but a shortage of sheep and beef properties.
In Otago, sellers of dairy and dairy support properties in adjoining regions have “added strong momentum to the marketplace” for beef and sheep properties, with a shortage of listings.
