164 farms were sold in April; prices per hectare rose for all types of farms except forestry units

Prices for dairy land rose strongly in April in both the Bay of Plenty and Canterbury where they reached regional records.

But the national average price of $34,615 per hectare was similar to the average for the 15 months from February 2013, and was only $140 (+0.4%) higher than for March.

The market recorded 164 sales, which is 4% more than the same month last year and 20% above the average April over the past four years.

Finishing units and grazing farms dominated the sales, although sales of dairy farms were at their second lowest level in six months.

The median price per hectare rose to $24,574 in April 2014, and was 21.4% higher than April 2013.

"Rural morale has rebounded following drought breaking rainfall in the northern regions. Conversely, the surplus of rain that has been great for the pastoral sector in the South Island has impacted heavily on some in the arable sector," said REINZ Rural Spokesman Brian Peacocke.

The sales of irrigated dairy units in Canterbury continued to push prices higher. In fact, the average land price for dairy farms over all of Canterbury reached its highest level ever in April of $53,585 per hectare, a new national record. (This is an average of both irrigated and non-irrigated units.)

Higher average prices applied across the board, except for forestry units.

April sales included: 
    8 arable farms,
  28 dairy farms,
  33 finishing units,
  72 grazing properties,
  13 horticultural,
  10 farms of other types

The number of sales is presented here, without the average price, because average prices bounce around dramatically depending on the size and type of business unit being sold.

However, the following table sets out the median prices per hectare over the past three months, as reported by REINZ.

You can find current farms for sale and listed on the market here.

for more perspectives, see

- Exchange rates
- Commodity prices
- Farm cost indexes
- Interest rate trends
- Rural credit aggregates
- Farm sales activity
- Farms for sale
- International dairy prices

for saleyard and processor price trend graphs, see

- lamb
- beef
- deer
- velvet