Sligo-based auctioneer Roger McCarrick told the Irish Farmers Journal that the main demand currently in his area is for forestry land. Investors continue to be quite active in the market and competition is evident. In this area, McCarrick said that they are sourcing good-quality and sizable land plots, with lesser-quality forestry ground not seeing quite as much interest.

Good-quality forestry land is currently making from €4,000 to €4,500/acre according to McCarrick. However, he added that this is for good-quality land, suitable for afforestation with broadleaf trees. Lesser-quality forestry land suitable for planting conifer varieties is making from €2,500 to €3,000/acre in his area.

He stressed that the best demand is for sizeable holdings of good-quality land blocks suitable for afforestation. Poor-quality land with heather on it, which may not be suitable for planting, is making from €500 to €1,500/acre.

In terms of agricultural land sales, McCarrick said that the supply of land continues to be very tight. Currently, land parcels that are for sale are mainly either estate sales or bank sales, with only very few voluntary sales taking place. He added that at the moment there may be only 10 to 20 agricultural parcels sold in the year in his area.

In terms of farmer demand, McCarrick said that it is back on last year as a direct result of weaker farm incomes. However, where small parcels of good land are coming to the fore, prices are steady.

McCarrick drew attention to Brexit having a large impact on property sales since early summer. He highlighted weak sterling as having a major impact, especially for small plots of land of five to 20 acres with a house on them.

He said that traditionally British buyers were active for these lots, however, since the Brexit announcement, buyers have been much slower.

The weak sterling exchange rate has eroded their buying capacity and with the current uncertainty that is out there, British buyers have become very slow to commit to purchases and are putting off their decisions. As regards rural houses, he said that in his area the number of rural houses on offer is small, there is now a shortage and demand is still very strong. The prices of these houses are going up slowly as a result. In the last year, he estimated that prices of rural houses have risen by 5% to 10%.

Prices steady in Roscommon

James Kilcoyne is an Auctioneer based in Ballaghadereen in Co Roscommon. He told the Irish Farmers Journal that land prices so far this year have been quite similar to last year and in some cases have been a little better in his area.

He pointed to forestry land being in demand, with large number of investors active for all good-sized parcels over 30 acres.

He said that marginal land that is capable of growing rushes is ideal for planting, and once there is 20-30 acres in a plot, then it is capable of fetching prices of €4,000 to €4,500/acre. He said that over the past 40 years, forestry has seen periods of strong demand and weaker demand, however currently demand is stronger than supply.

In terms of agricultural land, he said that prices are steady on last year and in some cases are higher, but it depends on the land block. Smaller parcels of land are fetching the highest prices on a per acre basis, one eight-acre parcel with a derelict house on it recently sold for €135,000 in the area, which is over €15,000/acre.

In terms of the effect of Brexit, Kilcoyne said that as of yet it has had no real impact on the trade, but he did warn that it undoubtedly will have some degree of an impact, particularly on a small holding with a residence on it.

He added that while this is a negative, he has seen more city buyers coming west in the search of suitable houses on small tracts of land. If this continues, it will keep strong demand there for those properties in the absence of British buyers. And demand is still strong as the number of these properties for sale is quite small.

Kilcoyne said that there is real value in one-off rural houses, and there has been for the past few years but the supply of rural houses has reduced a lot and this will inevitably mean that prices will increase. He said that there has been little to no building of houses in the area to sell in recent years, and once it is feasible this will start again. On the issue of rented land, he said that they let about 100 parcels each year. The spring saw solid demand and prices were in line with what was paid the previous year in the area.