Farm sales market blooms in winter

The rural property market has shrugged off the traditional winter downturn, recording a rise in median sale prices and the number of farms sold in May.

The latest rural sales figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand show the national median selling price for farms increased to $930,000 in May, from $910,000 in April. Sales also rose, to 274 from 262.

The figures show a year-on-year increase from May 2004, when farms were fetching a median price of $900,000.

"We continue to see a desperate shortage of listings, so this is very much a sellers' market," Reinz vice-president Murray Cleland said.

Despite fears of a slowdown driven by the high dollar, global prices for products such as beef, lamb and dairy continue to defy gravity.

The grazing sector was the stand-out performer with a May median price of $788,500, up from $700,000 in April and $682,500 in May 2004. Sales rose to 154 from 133 in April and 117 in May last year.

On the flipside, dairying went into its traditional seasonal hibernation, with sales continuing to drop, falling from 52 sales in April, which in turn was down on February and March, to 41 sales in May.

This impacted on the dairying median price, which dropped to $2 million in May from a peak of $2.71 million in April. That compared with a May 2004 median of $1.85 million.

Demand for finishing properties was steady, with 31 being sold in May, compared with 28 in April, but sales of less expensive properties pulled the median down to $950,000 in May from $1.24 million in April.

The horticultural property market maintained its strength with 23 sales, the same as April, slightly up on the 20 sales recorded in May 2004.

The horticultural median rose to $800,000 from $765,000, well up on the May 2004 median of $640,000.

The lifestyle property market also showed a resurgence of confidence in May, with the median up to $345,000 from $330,000 in April.

Sales were steady at 698 in May, compared with 702 in April and 715 in May 2004.

A feature of the market was strong sales in Waikato and Canterbury. Waikato sales rose to 112 in May from 66 in April, although the median price weakened a little to $345,000 from $360,000.

Canterbury sales were up to 116 in May from 102 in April, but the median declined to $245,000 in May from $292,500 in April.

The Auckland lifestyle property market was the opposite, with sales down to 104 in May from 123 in April, and the median price climbed to $605,000 from $550,000.

Cleland said the lifestyle market was holding up and had been tracking the residential market closely.