Farm sales for the three months ending July 2020 were up 15 percent compared to the same time last year, according to new data from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).
Overall there was a total of 341 farm sales during the three-month period, 46 more (15.6 percent) than the 295 in 2019.
The number was also up on sales for the three months ending June 2020, where 261 were recorded.
The data showed a total of 1212 farms were sold in the year to July, 9.4 percent fewer than in the year to July 2019. There were 26.7 percent fewer dairy farms sold, 14 percent fewer grazing farms, 17.5 percent finishing farms and 8.9 percent arable farms sold.
The median price per hectare for all farms remained largely unchanged compared to the three months ended July 2019, dropping 1.2 percent from $23,435 to $23,143.
Eleven of the 14 regions recorded an increase in farm sales during the three-month period, with the most notable being Auckland (+13) and Manawatu/Wanganui (+12). Waikato had the biggest decline in sales (-8), followed by Otago (-7).
"Sales volumes for the three-month period ending July 2020 have increased strongly from last month to be comfortably ahead of the equivalent period 12 months ago, albeit still well short of the volumes for the three-month period ending July 2018," Brian Peacocke, REINZ's rural spokesperson, said on Wednesday.
"Whilst such a surge does not equate to the levels experienced over the last five years, it does nevertheless reflect a sector that is recovering from recent and current issues more rapidly than other sectors in New Zealand, apart from the residential sector."
