The Country’s Jamie Mckay talks to GM of PGG Wrightson Rural Real Estates, Peter Newbold about the Sheep and Beef farms that are being sold and how many are going to trees. Peter let Jamie know he can’t give an exact percentage but that in some regions he would say more than 50% are going into forestry. He said it's “not slowing down” and in the areas that they’re aware of “it’s still taking place and underpinning a lot of the values”. 

Jamie goes onto ask what type of Forestry farming it is going to be, whether it be Production Forestry or Carbon Farming or whether it is a mix of the two and if Peter gets that information. Peter replies that they know most of the people who are in carbon or trees, and they have a fair idea they know what will take place with those properties. 

Jamie then goes onto talk about the recent, strong interest in sheep and beef properties, having got the news yesterday from Beef and Lamb New Zealand that profitability was going to be down 30 per cent, he asked if there was still that enthusiasm for those wanting to stick with Sheep and Beef to buy, Peter replies “there’s still a strong buyer pool out there”, going onto say that throughout the country, the only thing worth noting at the moment is that a lot of farmers are looking to move on and it’s not easy to pass down to family.

Things like inflation, interest, profits or age are just some of the potential reasons why and Peter believes over the next 12 to 18 months we will see a lot of Farms come to the market through those reasons with predominantly succession and retirement being at the forefront. 

Jamie then changes pace and raises questions about Cyclone Gabrielle and how it will affect Rural Real Estate prices and the badly affected areas like Hawkes Bay, Tairawhiti, East Coast, Gisborne, Coromandel and Northland, “Yeah, it's an interesting question” says Newbold as he elaborates that he was there last week “I think at the moment, you know a lot of people are just taking a breather, and rightly so”. Peter goes on to say the properties that haven’t been affected will likely still operate and be sold as per normal but due to there being so much going on now, things will be pushed out or put on hold. Jumping back to farming, Jamie asks if there is any interest in dairy at the moment, Peter talks about how they were just discussing it this morning with there being a bit of a lull but they’re seeing some positive activity taking place with it still being in that 5-to-10-million-dollar range, but Peter thinks they’ll see some more activity over the next few months in that space. 

Moving onto the Lifestyle market, Jamie comments “I know if I was in the market for a new House or lifestyle property, Peter, I'd buy an existing one rather than try and build” Peter says he still believes that we will see that sort of Lifestyle and Residential market pick up, more so in the spring, as again with so many things going on currently with people being unsettled and when you look at the cost of building, there's real opportunity to do homes up instead with the prices having gone up anywhere from 10 to 30 percent in some cases.