The price of farms in Otago has almost doubled in the past year but the data is tempered by the small number being sold.
Data by the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) shows the median farm price nationally rose 13.5% in the three months to January, compared with the same period a year earlier.
More were sold: 219 in the period under review compared with 208 a year ago.
The median price for 16 farms sold in Otago from November 1, 2010, to January 31, 2011, was $1.449 million compared with $730,000 for 12 sold a year earlier. In the three months to December 2010, 10 sold for a median price of $747,500.
The 16 Otago farms sold consisted of five finishing, three dairy, three forestry, three grazing, a horticultural block and a special property.
In Southland, 22 farms sold in the period under review for a median price of $2.638 million, down on the $3.422 million in the three months to December 2010 for 19 sales.
A year ago, 16 farms sold in the three months to January 2010 for a median price of $875,000.
Nationally, 92 grazing properties changed hands in the three months to January 2011, along with 46 dairy farms, up on the 33 sales a year earlier.
REINZ rural market spokesman Peter McDonald said it was pleasing to see an increase in the number of dairy farm sales.
"The interest in dairy farm sales in December has not continued into January, traditionally a slow month, but a considerable number of dairy properties are currently being marketed by tender or auction throughout the country and demand seems to be growing, so we could see significantly more sales in March and April."
Demand for lifestyle properties was maintained, with the median selling price in the three months to January 2011 of $440,000, down on the $445,000 in the three months to December 2010 and $455,000 in the three months to January 2010.