Land report: land supply decreases by 37% in Tyrone

Prices paid for agricultural land in Tyrone last year eased back by 3.7%, or £389/ac, to an average price of £10,210/ac.

Tyrone is now in fourth place across NI counties for average land price, having been overtaken by Antrim. When ranked across the entire Ireland, the Red Hand County is in 14th position, down from eighth place in 2019.

The fall in average land price in Tyrone was observed even though the supply of land tightened significantly last year. There were 2,343 acres publicly advertised for sale, which is 37% lower than the area offered up the previous year.

The total area of land on the market in Tyrone equates to 0.43% of the county’s total grassland and arable area. Overall, there were 76 agricultural properties offered up for sale during 2020, with the average lot equating to 28 acres.

Included in the list of properties was a large farm that made £1,400/ac below the Tyrone average last year. This pulled the average price for the county down and, if this property were excluded, it would leave the county average at £10,695/ac.

Despite the fall in Tyrone’s average price, our survey recorded strong prices at the top end of the market. For example, a price of £18,000/ac was recorded twice in our survey.

It was paid for a 30ac parcel in the middle of the county and again for a small six-acre lot in south Tyrone.

Other notable transactions included prices in excess of £10,000/ac that were paid for lesser quality lots located near the Sperrin Mountains.

The lowest price recorded in Tyrone was £6,250/ac for a 50ac block of poor-quality land in the middle of the county.

Over half (57%) of sales in the county fell in the £9,000/ac to £12,000/ac bracket, with 21% of transactions making less than £9,000/ac and 22% went above the £12,000/ac mark.

*Based on 29 transactions