SHOCKING! Tipperary had second highest land prices in Munster

Tipperary had the second highest land prices in Munster and fourth highest in the country last year, a new survey has revealed.

Prices in the county ranged from €6,225 for an acre of poor-quality land to €14,938 for good quality as national farmland prices forecast to rise by 8% on average in 2023.

The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland and its auctioneers and valuers are forecasting that the price of agricultural land nationally will increase by 8% on average this year, underpinned by a strong dairy sector.

In a major new survey, auctioneer, and valuer members of the SCSI, operating in the agricultural and rental markets, say they expect national rental prices to increase at an even higher rate - an average of 14%.

They say prices will be driven by the constrained supply of land for rental and higher anticipated demand, particularly from the dairy sector due to new environmental regulations. However, experts from Teagasc note that milk prices have fallen back somewhat this year.

National average non-residential farmland prices in 2022 ranged from €5,564 per acre for poor quality land – up 5% from €5,308 in 2021 – to €11,172 per acre for good quality land – up 2% from €10,962 the previous year.

Tipperary recorded the second highest average price for good quality land in Munster and the fourth highest in the country with a price of €14,375 per acre.

In Munster, prices for good land on holdings under 50 acres range from a high of €15,000 in Waterford to €8,813 in Clare. Tipperary had the second highest on €14,938 while Cork was third on €14,250 – down from €15,070 last year.

Prices for poor quality land ranged from an average of €7,750 in Cork to €4,125, in Clare. The average price of an acre of poor-quality land on holdings under 50 acres in Tipp is €6,225.

According to the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland/ Teagasc Agricultural Land Market Review and Outlook Report 2023, the Central Statistics Office data shows that the share of agricultural land, which transacts for sale annually is only around 0.5% and this is one of the main reasons for the strong agricultural land letting market which exists here.

In Munster, where land rental values increased on average by 13% last year, prices per acre ranged from €241 for grazing only to €383 for potato crops.

In Leinster, rental values increased on average by 9% and ranged from €248 for grazing only to €439 for potatoes. In Connacht/Ulster, land for grazing, meadowing and silage increased by 5% to €176 per acre and for grazing only by 1% to €162.

According to the survey of 134 auctioneers and valuers from all over the country, the volume of land sold last year was similar to 2021, with executor/probate sales providing the main source of farmland sales.

This year’s annual survey, the tenth in the series, provides a county-by-county breakdown on the prices of good and poor-quality land.

The survey found the most expensive land in the country is in Kildare with good quality land across different plot sizes fetching an average of €15,056 per acre.

The land with the lowest value is poor quality land in Mayo where the average price is €2,866 per acre. According to this year’s survey, the most expensive land is in Kildare, Meath and Waterford.

The average price of good quality land on holdings of less than 50 acres in Kildare is €15,333 per acre, followed by Meath on €15,200 and Waterford on €15,000.

Tipperary on €14,938, Wexford on €14,857 and Carlow and Cork on €14,250 round off the top six places.