Farm sales are running at about the same level as last year and prices overall are up slightly although dairy has taken a hit, according to the latest figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.
These show there were 397 farm sales throughout the country in the three months to the end of July, almost unchanged from the 392 sales in the same period of last year.
On the price front the REINZ All Farm Price Index, which adjusts for differences in farm size, type and location, was up 3.7% compared to a year ago.
However farm sales remain well down from where they were two years, when 468 farms were sold in the three months to July 2016.
"Farm sales data for for the period ending July 2018 reflect reasonable consistency with the same period in 2017 but show a significant 15% reduction form the equivalent period of July 2016," REINZ rural spokesman Brian Peacocke said.
For dairy farmers the news was a bit mixed, with a rise in the number of dairy farm sales, which increased from 36 in the three months to July last year to 39 for the same period of this year, while prices headed in the opposite direction.
The REINZ Dairy Farm Price Index, which also also adjusts for differences in farm size and location, declined 14.5% compared to a year ago.
According to the REINZ's report, the Waikato was the only district to experience a significant level of dairy farm sales acclivity in July.
"Given the increasing age of farmers and frustration with labour in particular, there may well be a solid number of dairy farms available during the forthcoming season, in spite of the current drop in values," the report said.
For lifestyle blocks, sales numbers were down compared to both one year and two years ago, but prices were firmer overall.
The REINZ said 1883 lifestyle properties were sold in the three months to July, down 5.1% compared to the same period of last year and down 23.3% compared to the same period of 2016.
The median price of all lifestyle blocks in the three months to July was $660,000, up 13.8% compared to the same period of last year.
Peacocke said the current price reflected a shortage of lifestyle properties on the market.
"The test will be the sustainability of the median price as the availability of property increases in due course," he said.
Detail on farm prices per hectare are here.
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