In the three months ended April 2015 were 13 fewer farm sales than a year earlier but the median price per hectare rose 2.5% compared to the 3 months to March 2015.
Overall, there were 485 farm sales in the three months to end of April 2015, compared to 425 farm sales for the three months ended March 2015 (+14.1%) and 498 farm sales for the three months to the end of April 2014.
Dairy farm prices up
For the three months ended April 2015 the median sales price per hectare for dairy farms was $38,802 (97 properties), compared to $37,761 for the three months ended March 2015 (86 properties), and $34,615 (105 properties) for the three months ended April 2014.
The median dairy farm size for the three months ended April 2015 was 108 hectares. Included in sales for the month of March were 26 dairy farms at a median sale value of $37,879 per hectare. The median farm size was 101 hectares with a range of 41 hectares in Waikato to 231 hectares in Auckland.
The median production per hectare across all dairy farms sold in April 2015 was 1,088 kgs of milk solids.
The REINZ Dairy Farm Price Index rose by 6.9% in the three months to April compared to the three months to March. Compared to March 2014, the REINZ Dairy Farm Price Index rose by 15.5%. The REINZ Dairy Farm Price Index adjusts for differences in farm size and location compared to the median price per hectare, which does not adjust for these factors.
