Farm buyers and real estate agents are looking towards spring as a time when the property market may recover from its subdued state.
Farm sales in the three months to the end of July remained flat and the median price was steady at just over $1 million, according to Real Estate Institute of New Zealand spokesman Bryan Thomson.
Mr Thomson said 262 farms changed hands during the period, compared to 229 sold during the corresponding period last year, but still far short of the 601 sold in the three months to the end of July 2008.
The median price for the year to the end of July was $1.1 million, $100,000 less than for the the year to the end of July 2009 and $700,000 lower than for the year to the end of July 2008.
In the past year, the median price of farms has declined in 10 of the 14 districts, with the median price slipping in Otago from $1.8 million in the three months to the end of July 2008, to $875,000 for the same period in 2009 and $641,000 for the same period this year.
Mr Thomson said just eight dairy farms sold in Otago in July, at an average price of $4.2 million, or $36,435 a ha, $4000 higher than in June but $3000 less than May.
The price has been steadily falling this year on a per-kg-of-milk-solids measure, from $45 in May to $40 in June and $37 in July.
Canterbury had the most sales in the three months to July with 45, while Southland and Bay of Plenty both recorded 32 and Otago 22.
The Otago farms to sell were made up of 13 grazing, six finishing and one each of special, arable and forestry.
In Otago, 47 lifestyle blocks sold during the period, well down on the past two years, at a median price of $320,000, down $50,000 on last year but a similar price to 2009.
The 32 Southland farms sold had a median price of $1.1 million, similar to prices for the same period in the past two years.
