There was very little farmland for sale in Dublin last year and no cheap land of any sort.

We examined 16 farms and parcels that were put up for sale, down from 20 the year before. We did our calculations on 10 that had sold by year end.

The average price was €26,129/ac, a rise of 3% which equated to an increase of €639/ac.

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The average price in Co Dublin can move up and down sharply from year to year.

That partly reflects the relatively small number of farm properties put up for sale. But it’s also strongly influenced by the details of location, by any zoning present and related factors.

The potential upside in prices where land has development potential is very high.

Last year was unusual in that a number of large farms – over 100ac – were put up for sale.

Coonan Property sold a 144ac farm with a small farmyard at Grange, The Naul in the autumn. This farm was located along the M1 Motorway. In one block, it had frontage on to the both the M1 and a local road, the L1085. The tillage and grass farm was sold to a local businessman for €2.775m, equal to approximately €20,000/ac.

Bidders

Coonan Property also sold 36ac of tillage land near Oldtown, in north Co Dublin for close to €25,000/ac. Four bidders were involved and the land was knocked down to a local business person at €890,000.

Knight Frank sold a 129ac farm at Dunsoghly, St Margarets for €3.35m, or approximately €26,000/ac. The land was between the M2 Motorway and Dublin Airport and was zoned as Green Belt. Other auctioneers who sold or launched farmland in the county included JPM Doyle, Grimes, Sherry Fitzgerald Cumiskey Kelly, Redmond Property and Redmond Auctioneers.