The average price paid for agricultural land in Antrim has moved upwards again and now sits at £10,844/acre. It represents an increase of £266/acre, or 2.5%, on 2020 levels.

Antrim is the fourth most expensive county to buy land in NI and it ranks 13th across the island of Ireland.

Our records show that 2,919 acres of land were publicly advertised for sale in Antrim last year. This is 436 acres higher than the year previous but is only 21 acres more than 2019 levels. The total area offered up during 2021 equates to 0.7% of the county’s overall arable and grassland area.

There were 100 parcels of land on the market in the Saffron County during 2021. This makes the average lot 29 acres in size, which is almost identical to the NI average.

A relatively tight supply of land, coupled with firm demand, edged prices up in Antrim last year. The other key factor was a limited volume of poorer-quality land was sold, which meant strong selling prices made up a large proportion of the sales in our survey.

The top price recorded was just over £20,800/acre. It was paid for a 30-acre block in the south of the county. The lowest price was £5,555/acre for 14 acres of land in the middle of the county.

Residential farms also sold well in Antrim last year. A 20-block with a substantial house made over £20,000/acre, even when a valuation for the dwelling is subtracted from the overall selling price.

Land prices in Antrim are well distributed across the four price brackets outlined in the adjacent pie chart. While 28% of sales were under £9,000/acre, 19% of transactions made over £15,000/acre. Between that, a quarter of sales were £9,001-£12,000/acre and 28% fell in the £12,001-15,000/ac bracket.