First-timers out in force

Farm sales activity in the three months to December 31 has reflected the resilience of the rural market. Photo / Supplied

Strong first farm buyer activity is highlighted in the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand rural property sales figures for the final quarter last year.

They show four dairy units among the 27 Northland farms sold in the three months to December 31 averaged 140ha fetching $20,336 a hectare.

The median price for the 95 dairy farms sold nationally in the final quarter last year was $41,227 a hectare, with the biggest turnover in Waikato where 40 dairy farms averaging 96ha brought $44,584 a hectare.

Grazing units accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Northland farm sales for December with 17 farms of this type, median size 39ha, fetching $12,833 a hectare - down on the median for the 219 grazing units sold nationally of $16,167 a hectare but up $3245 on the Northland grazing farm sales median of $9588 a hectare a year earlier.

Two of the other six Northland farms sold in December were finishing units, average size 64ha and median price of $30,400 a hectare - almost double the $15,932 a hectare median sales price for the region's finishing farm sales in November and a big advance on the $10,800 a hectare finishing median in December 2013 and $6120 in December 2012.

Two of the remaining four Northland farms sold in December were horticultural blocks with a median size of 16ha and median price of $151,857 a hectare. The other two farms sold were a 64ha forestry block which brought $5505 a hectare, and a 36ha arable block which fetched $8263 a hectare.

Meanwhile, 153 of the 1769 lifestyle property sales around the country in the three months to December 31 took place in Northland, which had the fourth highest number of regional lifestyle sales nationally after Auckland (389), Waikato (258) and Canterbury (255).

The median sales price for the Northland lifestyle blocks was $340,000, which was similar to the region's median in December 2013 and 2012 but far below the national median of $525,000 for last year's final quarter and giving Northland the second lowest price among New Zealand's 14 regions, exceeding only West Coast on $217,000.

Auckland tops the lifestyle sales prices with a $958,000 median then there was a steep fall to the next price tier led by Canterbury on $580,000.

West Coast recorded the longest number of days to sell lifestyle properties at 259 days, followed by Northland at 99 days.

Real Estate Institute rural spokesman Brian Peacocke said sales activity in the three months to December 31 reflected the resilience of the rural market with volumes and prices indicating a strong degree of confidence among vendors, purchasers and financiers in the medium to longer-term future of the pastoral industry.

He highlighted the strength shown in the Waikato dairy market despite the reduction in the dairy payout for the coming season.