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A WELL-RESPECTED Tararua sheep and beef unit sold in late December for $6.75 million, setting a new benchmark for farms of similar scale and quality, says the property's selling agent.
Max Lyver, of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Waipukurau sold the 500ha Rakaiatai Farm after a five-week marketing programme.
Situated in Makotuku, 16km north east of Dannevirke, he says the farm was probably one of the best in the region to go to the market in 2013, attracting interest from around the country before selling to a Northland-based farming family.
"Its eventual sale price of $13,500 per hectare, or $5,460 per acre, sets a new benchmark for similar properties and is likely to motivate owners of other high quality Hawke's Bay finishing farms to consider testing the market.
"Farms of this quality are rarely offered for sale. When they are they attract considerable attention. Interest in Rakaiatai came from all over New Zealand, with more than 28 parties inspecting the property over its five-week marketing campaign.
"Dairy farmers looking for a dairy support block showed particular interest, as did sheep and cattle breeders impressed by the extremely high level of improvements."
Rakaiatai Farm's new owners, Erik and Lyn van der Velden from Whangarei, take over the property in April. Lyver says they searched for a farm for six years before setting their hearts on Rakaiatai, and are looking forward to expanding their Mangatara Limousin stud, aiming for their first annual bull sale in mid-2014.
Lyver described Rakaiatai as a powerhouse of production.
"Running more than 700 cattle and 4,000 sheep on mainly flat to easy rolling contour, it boasts an extensive range of well-maintained and excellently appointed improvements made over the past decade, including a modern Lockwood homestead and two other houses, shearers quarters, a cattle selling complex, multiple sheep and cattle yards and a full range of support buildings," he says.
"Attention to detail by the previous owners, Doug and Linda McNaughten, who assumed tenure of Rakaiatai in 2001, along with Doug's parents John and Lorraine, meant the property was presented to full effect, with road sides mown, driveways sprayed, battens straightened and stock in magnificent condition."
Lyver says demand for Hawke's Bay rural property remained elevated during the spring and early summer.
"Demand is outstripping the number of farms offered to the market, meaning sales in the region should continue their gradual rise as the summer progresses," he says.
"New schedules for beef and lamb, alongside positive wool prices, engendered higher levels of confidence among pastoral farmers than in 2012/13, encouraging many to continue operating rather than opting to sell. If benchmark prices rise slightly more though, which is possible based on demand, and was evidenced in particular by the interest in Rakaiatai Farm, we could see a number of additional listings, which would energise the summer market."
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