Regional disparity as Leinster, Connacht and

THE SCSI/Teagasc Land Market Review paints a picture of regional disparities in land prices.

Munster is the darling of the bunch where the overall average price per acre is €9,900. The price paid for holdings of 50ac to 100ac increased by 18pc, giving an average price per acre in this category of €10,719, while the price of a similarsized holding without a residence increased by 14pc to €10,000/ac.

The most expensive land in the southern province was to be found in plots of less than 50ac and these averaged €11,616/ac.

In Leinster the average price came in at €9,800/ac, with the cheapest per acre price of €9,000 paid for non-residential holdings of 100ac or more.

The dearest type of property is the plot of less than 50ac, and this is averaging out at €12,173/ ac — and this in fact is the dearest type of farming property in the country.

Connacht/Ulster is in a league of its own where the average price paid for land in 2017 is €7-8,500/ac.

The cheapest land to be bought in the region is found in non-residential parcels of more than 100ac while the dearest land comes in non-residential plots of less than 50ac.

Forestry land and the purchase of land for planting is having a profound impact on the market in the west.

Sligo auctioneer John Murphy comments on this in the course of the report when he says: “Beef farmers cannot compete with values offered by commercial forestry companies with tax breaks and grants available to them, particularly for moderate-to-low quality beef land.”

Commenting on the types of holdings that are selling, Pat O’Hagan of Savills says small farms move well with interest coming from local farmers, while the larger farms attract outside buyers. “It is the mediumsized land holdings of between 50ac and 100ac that tend to be more difficult to sell or lease — they can be too large for local farmers and not large enough for outside operators,” he said.

Leasing

Auctioneers have seen a distinct increase in the amount of land coming on the leasing market since the new tax breaks made longterm leasing more attractive