New Zealand's farmland prices take a dive

The number of farms going on the market across the Tasman Sea has also dropped.

For instance, the number of dairy farms changing hands over the past year fell by almost a third.

The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand found the median price per hectare for all farms sold in the three months to May this year was $26,915, a 2.8 per cent fall on the same period the year before.

The Australian farm property price boom peaked in 2022 but is still growing for its 10^th consecutive year, and is now a national median price per hectare of $9575/ha, according to Rural Bank's latest report.

The number of farm sales in Australia has also fallen in recent years.

In New Zealand, the number of farm sales in the three months ending in May was 243, down from 268 the previous year.

Year by year, 951 farms were sold to May this year, 232 less than the number sold the year before.

The REINZ said the sales fall was seen across various farm types, dairy farms down 26.3pc, dairy support farms down 24.2pc, grazing farms down 33.7pc and "finishing farms" falling by 17.2pc.

Arable, or cropping farms, rose 14.3pc in sales.

The median sales price for dairy farms was $35,135/ha, a small rise of 1.2pc.

The price per kilogram of milk solids dropped by 17.6pc over the year to $30.45.

The median sale price for finishing (livestock fattening) farms fell to $32,830/ha or 12.3pc over the past year.

The median price for grazing farms fell to $13,880/ha or 2.6pc.

Horticulture farms took the biggest hit, median prices dropped by 22.6pc over the past year to $300,000/ha.