Sligo’s land market was characterised by a good variety of buyers in 2018. For the most part, counties will have one or two dominant enterprises purchasing land.
In Sligo, the spread of sales was relatively even across six enterprises. Beef made up one quarter or purchases, business people made up 13%, dairy and sheep were almost 18%, while mixed farmers and forestry bought 14% and 10% of land respectively.
Sligo’s average price increased in 2018 to €6,761/ac, up 6.1% from €6,373/ac in 2017. This is the highest price in the county since 2010. Impressively, 60% of the land offered to the market sold last year. However, supply dropped almost 9% from 1,543ac in 2017 to 1,446ac.
There was a considerable range of prices in the county in 2018, with values as low as €1,930/ac to highs of €20,200/ac recorded. Of the 29 land sales, four fetched €10,000/ac or more, with 10 achieving €5,000/ac or less.
Possibly the most impressive statistic in Sligo last year was the number of successful auctions. Of the 13 recorded, 11 sold under the hammer. These included the 23.4ac at Hazelwood which sold for €100,000 or €4,275/ac; the 25ac near Gurteen that fetched €124,000 or €4,900/ac; and the 24ac at Kilrusheighter that made €240,000 or €10,000/ac.
At Breaghwy in Ballinfull, 126ac sold under the hammer in five lots for €790,000 or €6,300/ac. The most unusual sale in the county was for a parcel over 10ac in north Sligo. Two farmers got stuck into the bidding and prices reached an extraordinary €20,200/ac. Unsurprisingly, prices were far stronger for holdings under 40ac (€7,440/ac) than for those over 40ac (€4,630/ac) last year, a trend that has been consistent in the county for a number of years.
Sentiment around the land market was mixed in 2018. While there was more activity last year and prices were stronger, agents noted uncertainty in the market.
Vital statistics
*Based on 29 transactions
Long read: steady prices but high uncertainty in Ireland's land market