Dublin and the south-east were the most expensive regions to buy, according to the Central Statistics Office, with a median price of €24,125 per acre in the capital, and €14,991 in Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford and Wexford.
The median price is calculated by putting the land sales in order of the price per acre and taking the mid-point, so half are above that and the other half of sales were at a price point below it.
Last year a total of 57,212 acres of agricultural land were sold across Ireland, which was down almost 9pc on the 62,823 acres sold in 2023.
The highest volume, some 12,782 acres, was sold in the west region of Galway, Mayo and Roscommon, where the median price was the most affordable, at €7,027 per acre.
Arable land is selling at a considerably higher price, and its median of €17,898 last year was over 9pc higher than what was achieved in 2023. The CSO defines this as land that is worked regularly, generally under a system of crop rotation.
Niall Corkery, a statistician in the prices division of the CSO, pointed out that the 57,212 acres of agricultural land sold last year was also a decrease on the figure for 2022, when 62,274 acres were sold.
Only 475 acres were sold in the Dublin region, and 4,517 in the south-east. Nationwide, the average transaction size was 17.4 acres.
Only just over 5pc of the sales involved arable land, with the rest being permanent grassland. However, arable land accounts for 12pc of the total value of sales, at €67.5m out of the total of €556m.
Farm buyers in the mid-west region of Clare, Limerick and Tipperary spent the most – at €94.9m. Buyers of agricultural land in the Dublin region spent €14.5m on the 475 acres sold there.
Development sites and land that is identifiable as forestry are left out of the CSO’s calculations, and they also exclude commonage, inheritances, land sold with a dwelling attached or land that is gifted or sold to charities or sporting bodies.
Reflecting the continuing importance of land sales in Ireland, the High Court recently adjudicated in a lengthy tussle over the proposed sale of the 751-acre Barne Estate near Clonmel. It dismissed an application by John Magnier to enforce a “handshake deal” for €15m he claimed to have agreed with Richard Thomson-Moore, a beneficiary of the trust that owns the estate.
Maurice Regan, who is now set to purchase Barne, has reportedly expressed an interest in partnering with Tipperary farmers to buy the 813-acre Rockwell Farm that has now gone on sale.
It is being sold by the Spiritan religious order with an asking price of about €21m.
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