The first Irish Farmers Journal Land price report was published in 2008 and looked back on 2007, a year of very high prices. The rest of the land price story follows the by now familiar trajectory of the fortunes of the Irish economy up to and following the economic crash of 2008. In many ways, the past 10 years of the land price report is a microcosm of these wider fortunes.

2007 marked the beginning of the end of the euphoria associated with the Celtic Tiger era in Ireland. The cracks in the euphoria began to appear in this year when confidence levels started to fall and an air of caution took over. However, land prices were still at a high average of €20,238/ac.

2008 marked the turning point in the agricultural land market and in the economy. The cracks that began to appear in 2007 finally broke through, resulting in a complete collapse of the property market. Land prices fell to €15,867/ac.

By 2009, the average price of land had halved from 2007 levels to €10,222/ac.

(Click here for full-screen version of this timeline)

Price plummet and recovery

The price plummet continued in 2010, with the average falling by a further 14.5% to €8,700/acre. By 2011, the average land price had found a new level and was almost identical to the national average for 2010. The turning point came in 2012 when the national average increased by over €1,000/ac within 12 months to €9,954/ac.

There was some light in 2014 when the national average increased as well as the supply of land

However, this recovery was short-lived and 2013 failed to see a jump past the €10,000/ac benchmark.

There was some light in 2014 when the national average increased as well as the supply of land. 2015 marked the end of milk quotas and the resulting activity from dairy farmers helped to underpin the price of land which still, however, dropped on 2014 levels to €8,914/ac.

Finally, 2016 proved a mixed market, with average agricultural land prices falling by 1.6% on 2015 to €8,771/ac. However, despite the fall, the agricultural land market remains solid with a lot of activity in the auction rooms and plenty of deals getting across the line.

Read more

Land prices steady in 2016