Farm sales down in 2009

The number of farms sold in the last few months of 2009 was well down on previous years, says the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.

REINZ says 241 New Zealand farms were sold during the thee months to December 2009. 753 were sold during the same period in 2007, and 346 in 2008.

Farm prices had dropped to a median value of NZ$1,000,000 - down NZ$650,000 from their value during the same period in 2007.

REINZ president Peter McDonald said the drop in price reflected the low number of farms sold during this period, and the fact that the majority of sales were grazing blocks, rather than dairy farms.

The "tightening up" of the rural finance sector had impacted on the market, he said.

"At this stage there seems to be no indication that this situation will rectify itself and there is concern that financial policies in this sector may continue to tighten," said McDonald.

The largest number of farm sales during the three months to December was recorded in Canterbury with 30 sales, followed closely by Waikato with 28 sales.

According to the REINZ figures, lifestyle properties continued to perform strongly, representing good investment value.

The national median selling price for a lifestyle property in the three months to December 2009 was $464,000, up $9,000 on the three months to November 2009.

Lifestyle property prices were highest in Nelson at $550,000.

The lowest median prices for lifestyle properties was to be found on the West Coast at $225,000.