Spring Growth Spurt in Rural Property Market

News Release

Spring Growth Spurt in Rural Property Market

Spring has brought some new growth to the rural property market with a small rise in the number of farm sales and the median sale price up on the same time last year according to the latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) Rural Market Report released today.

“After a very quiet period there is now a higher level of genuine inquiry and increased activity in the rural market resulting in the lift in sales, but that is to be expected at this time of the year,” says Real Estate Institute of New Zealand spokesperson Bryan Thomson. “While there is plenty of investigation going on, both sellers and buyers are still coming to terms with the changes in price levels and taking time to make their decisions.”

From $950,00 for the three months to October 2010, the national median farm sale price eased up to $968,500 for the three months to November 2010. This is a 10 per cent increase on the median of $880,000 for the same period in 2009, but still well down on the median of $1,542,750 for the equivalent period in 2008.

In the three months to the end of November 170 farms changed owners, still less than the 223 sold in the same three months in 2009, but an increase on the 164 farm sales in the three months to September 2010 and the just 147 in the three months to October 2010.

With 14 dairy farms sold in the three months to November 2010 the median price has increased to $2,950,000 from $1,700,000 at the end of October. Nine of the dairy farm sales were in November at an average price of $4,153,333, and the average price per kilogramme of milk solids recovered from $33 in October to $37 in November.

On a regional basis, during the three months to November there were 24 farm sales in the Bay of Plenty, 18 of them horticulture properties. Canterbury was next highest with 22 farms sold and in the Waikato there were 19.

Across the country the median price for the three months ending November 2010 is up $88,000 on the same three months in 2009, but the district median price fell in 6 out of the 14 districts. For the three months to November 2010 compared to the corresponding period in 2009, the median farm sale prices were down in Auckland from $928,000 to $760,000, Waikato from $1,612,500 to $1,315,000, Bay of Plenty from $897,500 to $820,000, Hawkes Bay from $1,070,000 to $826,064, Taranaki $1,235,000 to $702,500, and Wellington from $1,300,000 to $762,500. However when compared with the same three months to November 2009 there have been median price increases in Northland from $520,000 to $700,000, Gisborne from $827,500 to $980,000, Manawatu/Wanganui from $600,000 to $837,500 and all the South Island regions (Nelson from $817,269 to $1,805,000, West Coast from $195,817 to $2,650,000, Canterbury from $957,500 to $1,192,500, Otago from $585,000 to $750,000 and Southland from $654,000 to $1,250,000) .

Sales of lifestyle properties increased again from 1053 for the three months to October up to 1076 for the three months to November. The median selling price rose to $431,750 from $425,000 at the end of October, but is down on the median of $455,000 for the three months to the end of November in 2009.

ENDS

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