A strong rebound in sales volume and average price is clear in this year’s Bayleys Insight report for the dairy sector.

After a strong payout, the total number of dairy farms sold in the year to March 31, 2025, increased 73% on the previous 12 months to 204. Total sales value increased 90% from $0.61 billion to $1.15 billion.

Bayleys Canterbury director Ben Turner says the momentum shift in dairy farm sales looks set to continue off the back of a positive outlook for the coming year also.

“Values in the Canterbury region for dairy units have been very solid over the past year, ranging from the early $40,000s to the early $60,000s per hectare,” Turner says.

“We’ve also had some late season sales, including one above the previous season high, which shows increasing confidence in the sector as we head into the winter months,” he says.

After a period of lower demand for dairy properties a couple of years ago, Turner says it is refreshing to see a return to multiple, mostly unconditional offers coming in on new listings at the end of their marketing period.

“We may not see the same volume of listings in the Canterbury region in the year ahead, however, we expect strong competition to continue for quality listings,” he says.

“We still have a big buyer pool for dairy farms and that will underpin values in the year ahead.”

Turner is also noticing a significant uptick in demand for dairy support and grazing blocks in Canterbury, especially those with a history of wintering dairy cows.

“Dairy conversions are also on the table again, and that will add further pressure to demand for dairy support and grazing farms in the region,” he says.

Bayleys Canterbury Country team manager Kevin Jenkins says the successful sale of 15 dairy units over the past year underlines the region’s ‘powerhouse’ status as a milk producer.

Interest is also strong among farmers seeking to convert suitable land to dairy use, especially where existing infrastructure or proximity to processing plants adds value.

“The availability of large-scale irrigated land, combined with efficient infrastructure and strong processing capacity, continues to make Canterbury a strategic focus for dairy investment,” Jenkins says.

In Southland, Bayleys rural salesperson Hayden McCallum anticipates a modest lift of five-to-seven percent in values for superior and medium quality dairy farms listed for sale is likely in the coming year.

He senses a greater willingness from bankers to finance dairy farm purchases in the region and says confidence in the future of dairy farming has surged in the past few months.

“Inflation is more under control now, interest rates are lower, the payout is strong for the current season and the forecast for next season is also up there too. We’ve also had good clearances of our existing stock of farms for sale, so a stronger market is on the cards for the coming year,” he says.

“We also know there’s a lot of farm buyers who are getting scratchy feet. They want to move on something after missing out last spring or earlier this year when we cleared all our tier 1 and 2 dairy farms, and most of our tier 3 farms too.”

It is a similar picture in Waikato, says Bayleys general manager Mark Dawe.

Dawe says for dairy farms in the Waikato and Hauraki Plains it is not unusual for values to vary from the mid-to-high $20,000s per hectare to $75,000 per hectare depending on location, proximity to towns, interest from neighbours and the quality of improvements and land.

Urban sprawl, particularly around larger provincial towns like Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Morrinsville or Matamata, is also influencing dairy farm values achieved if they are bought for more intensive farming options like horse breeding, or lifestyle and residential development.

Dawe says there is a growing pool of dairy farm sellers in Waikato who are older farm owners, seeking to retire.

“Many of them will be looking at the dairy sector optimism and thinking this next year or two is their best opportunity to move,” he says.

“We’ve also got a good pool of buyers in the region looking to expand or get into their first farm, and we always get buyers from out of the region too.”

Dawe says there is also a group of buyers with the finance available to buy elite-quality properties in premier dairy locations.