Farmland prices rose by 5% in 2024, to average €12,515/ac. It was an increase of €590/ac from €11,925/ac in 2023. This was a positive outcome for the market, given there was a lot of uncertainty in the early stages of the year.

Highest land prices last year were in Co Dublin, where the average was €25,490/ac. It was followed by counties Wexford, Meath, Louth and Laois.

The biggest increase in price was seen in Co Meath. The average there was €17,669/ac, up from €14,321/ac the year before. There were also notable increases in counties Offaly, Monaghan and Westmeath.

The lowest average land price last year was in Co Leitrim at €6,419/ac. This was followed by Mayo and Donegal. Prices fell from recent highs in counties Cork, Donegal, Kilkenny, Tipperary, Wicklow and even Dublin.

Taking a wider view, land price peaked at close to €20,000/ac in 2008, during the Celtic Tiger period. It then spent a decade hovering in the range of €8,000/ac to €10,000/ac, finally passing through the €10,000/ac mark in 2020 when it reached €10,316/ac.

The average reached €12,000/ac in 2022 and has plateaued around that level. Meanwhile, farmland prices in Northern Ireland continue to be significantly higher than in the Republic. Prices there rose by 6.8% last year to average £14,736/ac (€17,406/ac). The highest price was in Co Armagh, followed by counties Down, Tyrone and Antrim.

Sodden fields

Looking back, the start of the 2024 season was unpromising. The year opened with land sodden from an unusually wet winter and the poor weather continued into March and April. With farms not looking their best, landowners and agents delayed putting properties on the market. Fewer than normal farms were put up for sale in the spring, which is usually a busy time of year.

Many of the sales that went ahead were being sold by the executors of an estate. One block of good tillage land in north Leinster was put up for auction with a temporary pond of rainwater sitting in the middle – something unheard of in a more normal year.

Farmer confidence was also not great, due to the high costs and low prices in the previous 12 months.

The weather finally dried up in May. Milk markets began to improve while fertiliser and feed costs eased. The land market took off with a rush. There was a catch-up effect as a backlog of properties were launched on the market.

A number of strong early sales showed that the demand was still there for good properties. The 80ac at Castledermot, Co Kildare, that had been planned as a new sugar beet factory was sold for almost €21,000/ac by Coonan Property. REA Dawson got over €17,000/ac for a 53ac farm at Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow – sold to a dairy farming family.

Prime land in Tipperary defied expectations, with PF Quirke getting one fortunate landowner almost €38,000/ac for 64ac near Clonmel.

REA Spratt sold 81ac at Ballyhane, Co Waterford, with a derelict house, for over €24,000/ac while property partners Laurence Gunne sold 40ac at Greenore in Co Louth for €17,750/ac. At Ploughlands, Croom, Co Limerick, Tom Crosse of GVM Auctioneers, sold 32ac for €18,000/ac.

By July it was clear that land sales were well underway, that demand for prime properties was strong and that prices were on course to be at least maintained in 2024.

Derelict houses

Derelict houses are enjoying a renewed appreciation especially given the funding available through the Vacant Property Renovation Grant (VPRG). This is also being driven by the ever-increasing difficulties in obtaining planning permission for children taking over the family farm. Planning permission is becoming more expensive.

The presence of a derelict house can increase the chances of getting planning. An old house that five years ago added €40,000 to the value of land, can now increase it by as much as €100,000, depending on how strict the local county council is on planning. It has even higher value if there is still a water connection, an electricity connection, a septic tank or an intact roof. In 2024, derelict houses that were roadside and offered separately on their own sites made over €200,000 in some cases.

Sharing the love

Last year also saw higher value being placed on some plainer types of land. This is because of the EU direct payments available under the Organic Farming Scheme and other environment-led schemes.

Bogland that would have struggled to make €800/ac a few years ago is now fetching between €1,500/ac and €2,000/ac in some western counties.

Commonage that might have previously made €650/ac to €700/ac is now fetching €1,000/ac, and more if it is enclosed.

Scaredy-CAT

The sector got a shock in October when the budget included proposals for a clamp down on non-farmers buying farmland to – allegedly – avoid Capital Acquisition Tax (CAT) on subsequent transfers to children. It was the kind of move welcomed by expansion minded farmers, but not by estate agents who had business clients with money to spend.

Development land

Land for building houses was in great demand.

An 11.5ac parcel outside Trim, Co Meath, half of it zoned for development, made €1.66m or €144,000/ac when auctioned by REA Thomas Potterton. Similarly, a 13.7ac parcel of nice land on the edge of Kells town made €1.16m, or €84,670/ac, at auction for Raymond Potterton Auctioneers. This land was not zoned, but clearly has plenty of potential.

Other types of commercial value were also seen. A 45.3ac block of land at Athlone East made almost €49,000/ac when sold at auction by joint agents Colliers and Francis Kearney. The farm came with a vacant farmhouse, an old piggery, a three-bay hayshed – and substantial gravel deposits. The buyer was a local person with interests in quarrying. Due to their commercial nature, these properties were excluded from our calculations of average farmland prices.

Period houses

There was good demand for prime country estates and period houses in 2024, particularly where the house was in good condition.

Sherry Fitzgerald Radford sold the lovely Newtown House on 26ac at Bannow, Co Wexford. The same auctioneers sold the stunning Linziestown House at Tomhaggard, Co Wexford for a price in excess of the asking price of €1.75m.

In Meath, Raymond Potterton Auctioneers sold Rathnally House on 26ac near Trim for €1.5m at auction. The fine three-storey house has seven bedrooms and is more than spacious at almost 6,600 sq ft. The property stands on the edge of the River Boyne. Interestingly, it was just the second time the house had been sold since being built.

Notable sales

Stud farms and training yards were in good demand. A stand-out sale was Eadling House at Punchestown, Co Kildare, sold by Coonan Property. The property which was developed by the legendary Mick Kinnane, lies between three racecourses and came with a fine, modern house. It sold before auction, well exceeding the €4m guide price.

Among the unusual sales, one farmer bought a large block of land which had been in Christmas tree production. Remaining trees were cleared off the land before it was sold – there is no replanting obligations. The new owner will have to spend further money levelling and reseeding the land, but will have got reasonably good ground at well under €10,000/ac.

Interestingly, a 2.91ac field was bought in Co Offaly for honey production. It was the smallest lot on a 41ac farm near Rhode, successfully sold by GVM Tullamore and Mark Charles Properties. The field sold after the auction and the buyer said he intended to “fill it with hives”. It’s a picturesque setting for the bees – running along the Grand Canal Walkway.

Repayment capacity

Bank lending criteria influenced some land sales in 2024 – in a number of cases dairy farmers were not able to obtain the level of borrowing they hoped for. The lower milk prices in the first half of the year influenced calculations of repayment capacity, lowering sums for which approval could be given. The increased milk prices seen in the later part of the year will in turn have been factored into calculations of repayment capacity.

Prices

The highest prices paid for land last year in the Republic of Ireland were in Co Dublin at €25,490/ac – on a small sample.

This was followed by counties Wexford (€17,771/ac), Meath (€17,669/ac), Louth (€17,270/ac) and Laois (€16,894/ac). Trailing a distance behind were counties Kildare (€15,740/ac), Tipperary (€15,388/ac), Carlow (€15,156/ac) and Waterford (€15,083/ac).

Within this group there were movers. Dublin’s average price was down – but it shifts from year to year, with little farmland remaining. Counties Carlow and Waterford were also down. Prices rose significantly in counties Meath and Wexford and rose a little in counties Laois and Louth (see map on page 14).

The lowest prices last year were in Co Leitrim at €6,419/ac as well as counties Mayo at €7,746/ac, Donegal at €7,953/ac, Sligo at €9,090/ac, Roscommon at €9,098/ac, Kerry at €9,431/ac, Galway at €9,505/ac and Longford at €9,811/ac.

That group did see some increases in Mayo, Sligo, Roscommon and Galway but there were decreases in Leitrim and Longford.

Buyers now favour larger properties. The average price of parcels under 40ac was €12,233/ac, while the average of those over 40ac was €13,105/ac. That premium for larger holdings has grown over the past few years.

Across the provinces, Leinster had the dearest land at €15,374/ac, up from €15,087/ac in the previous year. This reflects the high land prices in Dublin and surrounding counties.

Next up was Munster at an average of €13,465/ac, down from €13,715/ac the previous year.

Average prices in the border counties of Donegal, Leitrim and Monaghan averaged €10,386/ac, similar to their averages in 2023.

The average price in Connacht was €8,528/ac, up from €7,980/ac.

Supply

We examined 2,300 farms and land parcels that were placed on the market last year. The highest numbers were in Mayo (220 farms), followed by Cork (215), Galway (213) and Roscommon (170). These are large counties with a high number of landowners. This list includes counties with relatively low average land prices.

The counties with the fewest farms for sale last year were Dublin (20), Carlow (22), Louth (30), Wicklow (38) and Laois (39). These counties were among the highest average land prices.

The counties with the largest area of land placed on the market follows a similar pattern. Co Mayo had the highest at 10,053ac, followed by Kerry (9,345ac), Cork (8,693ac) and Galway (7,956ac).

In contrast, the areas put up for sale in counties Carlow and Louth did not exceed 1,000ac.

A total of 121 farms of over 100ac were offered for sale, breaking down as 92 in the range of 100ac to 200ac and 29 over 200ac.

By year end, 686 of these farms had sold and – meeting our criteria – were used in our calculations, down from 702 the year before. Two thirds (466) were smaller than 40ac, one third bigger (220).