18 Sep 2009

Real Estate Institute upbeat about market for dairy farms

3:33 pm on 18 September 2009

The Real Estate Institute remains confident that the demand for dairy farms will start to pick up again in the next one or two months. No dairy farms at all were sold last month.

Farm sales and prices generally have fallen in the past year, but dairy farm demand and price levels have taken the biggest hit, with milk prices plunging since a record payout two seasons ago.

However, the institute says the lack of dairy farm sales last month is nothing to get worried about. It says the lift in Fonterra's milk powder auctions and the great spring conditions through most of the country are restoring some confidence in dairying. It predicts a return to more normal sales turnover figures by Christmas.