The slump in farm gate milk prices has not taken the wind out of the market for dairy farms, if the latest farm sales figures are anything to go by.
At this week's global dairy auction the key product for dairy giant Fonterra, whole milk powder, fell by more than 5 percent from $US122 to $US2400. Fonterra has said the price of that powder needs to rise to about $US3500 by March next year if is to maintain its forecast payout to farmers of $5.30 per kilo of milk solids.
Real Estate Institute stastistics show that the median sales price per hectare for dairy farms in the past three months lifted to more than $43,000 - about $3000 a hectare above the September figure and more than $10,000 above the price a year ago.
The institute's rural spokesperson, Brian Peacocke, said record prices are being paid for some farms in Waikato.
"We're seeing very good prices paid for Fonterra supply farms, but in a couple of instances we've seen some very high prices indeed paid for properties that supplyy Tatua co-operative, which is beween Morrinsville and Te Aroha.
"In one case, we saw a price in the order of $97,000 a hectare, which included the milk supply entitlements, so if you take those out of it, it probably still comes back to about $82,000 a hectare.
"That's a very solid expression of confidence in Tatua as well, given that Tatua had a payout figure that was still a couple of dollars a kg ahead of where Fonterra ended up for the season. So, across the board, there still apepars to be prety good confidence in the industry."
The median price for all types of farms has also risen in the past three months by more than 7 percent to almost $28,000 a hectare.
Mr Peacocke said the strong prices being paid for lamb and beef have also helped to boost demand for top quality finishing farms around the country.