Farm and lifestyle block sales are running well ahead of where they were a year ago, according to the latest sales figures from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand.
Lifestyle block sales have been particularly strong, with 3054 selling in the three months to the end of November, up a whopping 69% compared to the 1806 that were sold in the same period of last year.
In the 12 months to the end of November 8544 lifestyle properties were sold, up 23% compared to the previous 12 months.
Prices were also firmer, with the median price for all lifestyle properties sold in the three months to November coming in at $810,000, up 16% compared to the same period of last year.
Farm sales were also more buoyant although prices tended to be weaker compared to a year ago.
There were 441 farms sales in the three months ended November, up a healthy 56% compared to the same period of last year.
On an annual basis, sales for the 12 months to the end of November were up 9% compared to the previous 12 months.
However there were variations in sales depending on farm types, with dairy farms sales up 13% in the 12 months to November compared to a year earlier, with finishing farms up 16%. Grazing farm sales were down 6%, and arable farm sales were down 25%.
Farm prices were just a tad weaker overall, with the REINZ All Farm Price Index, which adjusts for differences in the mix of farms sold by type, size and location, down 1.3% for the three months to the end of November compared to a year earlier, while the REINZ Dairy Farm Price Index was down a more substantial 17% over the same period.
"The majority of rural New Zealand has experienced a great spring, with high rainfall figures for November pushing grass supplies well into the New Year," REINZ rural spokesman Brian Peacocke said.
"The improving dairy payout has bolstered enthusiasm in the dairy sector, with prospects for a strong finish to the 2020/21 season in spite of the NZ dollar strengthening against the US dollar,"
The increase in farm sales also suggested banks were emerging from a rural lending freeze, Peacocke said.
More detailed monthly data on farm sales is available here.
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Lifestyle blocks sold - REINZ
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Farm sales
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4 Comments
Increasing sales turnover is usually the first sign... it starts now.
Seems a few "townies" have decided to cash up and head for the hills. Watch for another peak in sales in about 3 years as they realise it ain't all beer and skittles. Good on them though for giving it a go.
Lifestyle blocks (read - Life Sentence Blocks - just did a wee job for a relly, mowing their LSB with a zero-turn mower - took an entire afternoon as the - er - Paddock had gotten away on them) are excellent social distancing, plus run a sheepie or beefie or three for the freezer, a bit of hunting and fishing and a vege garden, and there's much less need to go into town. Except for essentials like ammo.... No wonder the sales are pumping...
Lifestyle property sales are going through the roof and then some where I live — wider Matakana area. Nearly all buyers are Aucklanders. Might be the motorway extension, Covid worries regarding crowded living, the fact that many people choose to work from home, who knows? Yet to how the newbies adjust to rural life. Mind you, most blocks around here are one to two acres, so quite manageable and still private.
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