North farm values drop by half in two years | Northland News | Local News in Northland

Northland farm sale prices plunged to a $520,000 median last month - little more than half the $1,008,000 median price of February 2008.

The median price was down 17 per cent on February last year.

By contrast, Real Estate Institute sales figures show the median price for Northland lifestyle blocks increased to $320,000 last month - up from $307,500 in January and $315,000 in February last year.

Real Estate Institute president Peter McDonald said there were reasonable levels of inquiries for all types of farms, but they did not seem to be resulting in completed transactions.

There were 15 farms - five grazing, four forestry, three horticulture, two dairy, and one finishing - sold around the region last month, compared with 16 in January and 21 in February last year.

The 108 Northland lifestyle block sales last month were similar to the January tally of 112 and up on the 87 sales in February last year.

The total number of farms sold throughout New Zealand in the three months to February was just 205, compared with 276 in the three months to February last year and 713 in the same period a year earlier.

"Only 11 dairy farms were sold nationwide in February, which was in line with the decline we noted in January," Mr McDonald said.

But while farm sales were down, Mr McDonald said lifestyle properties continued to be standout performers, with turnover and prices bucking trends in residential and other rural markets.

The national median selling price for lifestyle properties in the three months to February was $438,000, down $17,000 on the median price for the three months to January of $455,000.

These results were in the same range as the $445,000 median for the three months to February last year and the $455,000 median for the same period a year previously.

Real Estate Institute rural market information covers a three-month period so references to February, for instance, refer to the period from December 1 last year to February 28 this year.

Nationally, the median farm sale price remained steady at $1,045,000 for the three months to February 28, fractionally up on the median for the three months to January but well down on the $1.75 million recorded in the three months to February 2008.

Median lifestyle property prices were highest in Auckland at $700,000, with the most modest prices on the West Coast ($150,000).

A total of 1105 lifestyle properties were sold in the three months to February,  well up on the 877 sold in the three months to February last year.