There is no sign of any let up in the ongoing decline of rural property sales.
According to the latest Real Estate Institute of NZ figures sales of both farms and lifestyle blocks declined again in August.
That is hardly anything new.
As the two graphs below show, sales of farms and lifestyle blocks continue to follow seasonal trends but have been in steady decline for at least the last three years.
According to the REINZ, just 175 farms of all types were sold over the three months to the end of August, down from 214 over the three months ended July (-18.2%) and down from 222 (-21%) compared to a three months ended August 2022.
Prices were also softer, with the median price per hectare for all farms sold in the three months to August coming in at $24,920, down 14.8% compared to the three months ended July and down 8.3% compared to the three months ended August last year.
The REINZ All Farms Price Index, which adjusts for differences in the mix of properties sold each month by farm type, size and location, declined by 8.1% over the year to August.
The decline in sales affected most farm types.
Dairy farm sales were down 21% over the three months to August compared to a year earlier while finishing farm sales were down 32% and grazing properties were down 38% over the same period.
Of all the farms types, horticultural properties appear to be faring the best, but even their sales in the three months to August were down 16% compared to a year earlier.
Lifestyle block sales were also pretty grim.
Just 1273 lifestyle block sales sales were recorded in the three months ended August, down 8.1% compared to the three months end July and -16% compared to the same period of last year.
The comment stream on this article is now closed.
- You can have articles like this delivered directly to your inbox via our free Property Newsletter. We send it out 3-5 times a week with all of our property-related news, including auction results, interest rate movements and market commentary and analysis. To start receiving them, register here (it's free) and when approved you can select any of our free email newsletters.
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.