NZ farm sales fall in December quarter while prices hold up on horticulture gains

NZ farm sales fall in December quarter while prices hold up on horticulture gains
Sophie Boot
By Rebecca Howard Jan. 24 (BusinessDesk) - Farm sales fell 21 percent in the December quarter from a year earlier, although prices held up as increasingly expensive horticulture properties offset cheaper dairy farms, according to the Real Estate Institute. Overall, 394 farms were sold in the three months ended Dec. 31 from 499 farms in the same period a year earlier.  Some 1,565 farms were sold in calendar 2017, down 10 percent on the year. Ten of 14 regions recorded declines in the number of farm sales for December quarter, with Otago...