Farm sales for the three months ended January were 61.6% higher than those in the corresponding period last year, figures released by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) show.
There were 354 farm sales in the three-month-period, compared with 219 sales in the three months to January 2011. A total of 1231 farms were sold in the year to January 2012, the highest number on an annual basis since June 2009.
There was an increasing shortage of quality properties for sale as demand continued to rise on the back of very good farming conditions and improving farmer confidence, REINZ rural market spokesman Brian Peacocke said.
Even though demand was rising, buyers remained cautious and conservative in their price expectations and were unwilling to overpay.
"Because of the very good farming conditions, sellers of lesser-quality properties are becoming unwilling to meet the market on price and are content to sit tight in the expectation that farm prices will eventually rise to meet their price point rather than the other way around," Mr Peacocke said.
The median price per hectare for all farms sold in the three months to January was $20,299, a slight fall from $20,445 for the three moths ended December 2011 and down $918 per hectare on the $21,217 recorded for the three months to January 2011.
In Otago, there were 29 sales in the three months to January this year, up from 16 in the corresponding period last year and 12 the previous year.
The lifestyle property market also saw a 25% increase nationally in sales in the three months to January 2012, compared with January 2011.
There was a "solid" increase in the number of lifestyle property sales, particularly compared with the corresponding time last year. However, rising seller expectations on price and an emerging shortage in good-quality properties were likely to constrain the market in the near term, he said.
