Dairy farm sales plummet after drought

Drought dried up buyer appetite for Waikato dairy farms last month, with just three sales compared to 13 in January and 14 in December.

But REINZ rural market spokesman Brian Peacocke said the situation was not echoed in grazing property sales, of which there were 10 last month, com- pared to five in January and nine in December.

Finishing properties also bucked the drought, with two sales in February, five in January and two in December.

Demand for well located and contoured dairy farms with good levels of improvement outstripped supply, Peacocke said.

He expected the drought to take the shine off the traditional January to early April surge in dairy farm sales.

Farm owners sometimes did not put their properties on the market if they were not looking their best, he said.

Seven increases

regions recorded in farm sales for the three months ended February compared to the same period last year.

Auckland had the largest increase, with 17 more sales, Nelson had 16 and Waikato 11 more sales.

Seven regions posted decreased sales with Canterbury heading the list with 16 fewer sales.

The median price per hectare for all farms sold in the three months to the end of February was $21,951, 1.4 per cent up on the same period the previous year.

The national median for lifestyle blocks rose from $465,000 to $495,000 and the median sales price per hectare for dairy farms was $33,254.