Rural property market started this year with a split personality with farm sales buoyant but lifestyle blocks in the doldrums

The rural property market started the year with farm sales numbers at similar levels to a year ago but lifestyle property sales well down.

According to the Real Estate Institute of NZ, 489 farming properties were sold in the three months to the end of January this year, down just 3.2% compared to a year earlier.

Dairy farm sales have been particularly strong over the last 12 months with 1710 selling in the year to January, up 79% compared to the previous 12 months.

Overall prices remain firm, with the REINZ All Farm Price Index, which adjusts for differences in the mix of farms sold by size, type and location, up by 22.3% in January 2022 compared to January 2021.

Compared to December 2021 the Index was up 2.1%.

The REINZ Dairy Farm Price Index, which adjusts for differences in the mix of sales by farm size and location, was up 9.7% at the end of January compared to a year earlier.

However the market for lifestyle properties was a lot less solid, with sales volumes well down.

According to the REINZ 1938 lifestyle blocks were sold in the three months to the end of January this year, down 29% compared to a year earlier and the slowdown in sales appears to be getting worse.

"When sales volumes are compared on a month-by-month basis, the figures for January 2022 reflect a massive reduction of 47.5% compared to sales for December 2021," REINZ Rural Spokesman Brian Peacocke said.

The comment stream on this story is now closed.