Farm sales will test market
Auctioneer Joe McCarthy of Irish and European is selling a 211-acre tillage and drystock farm at Monee East, close to Mourneabbey, and says it will be a true test of the autumn market.
“Farmers who have sold land for development in the last three to four years, and who are still awaiting a good, substantial farm to come on the market, will be interested in this property. “We’ve seen a good bit of interest already, on foot of the preliminary announcement, and the auction, on the first of October should be a good test of the autumn market.”
The farm is a well laid out and fertile holding which is predominantly in tillage. Some 140 acres are under barley, the remainder is in pasture and is currently used for drystock.
The property’s strategic location will be the key to its sale, set as it is in the middle of prime tillage and dairying country, with good road frontage, and a location less than 5km from Mallow (and merely 10 minutes from the outskirts of Cork city).
The farm can be sold in lots. McCarthy suggests 33-acre and 178-acre divisions. Just off the main Cork-Mallow road, the land is suitable for any enterprise, and combines location, quality and size in one package, the agent says. There is no reserve price, but it could make €15,000-€20,000 per acre — maybe more in lots. That would mean €3 to €4 million for the entire property, depending on the level of interest at the auction in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 1. The sale includes a traditional three-bedroomed farmhouse in fairly good condition and an old-fashioned yard that includes cow stalls, calf houses and stables.
Large parcels like this Mourneabbey property are rare enough, so, as McCarthy expects, the development money may come out of the mattresses on the day.
The same agent is about to go to auction with another prime tillage farm, in roughly the same area of Co Cork.
A 100-acre holding at Lisnagar, Rathcormac, was launched last year, along with joint agent James Manley, and will be auctioned on Friday, September 19.
The guide price previously was €3m, this time it is reduced by €1m, at roughly €20,000 per acre.
In three big fields, the farm is one of the best in the area without waste, the agents say. Deep, rich and limestone-based, it’s also perfect for horses. Bounding the M8 in parts, the farm is just a mile from Rathcormac, five miles from Fermoy and 16 miles from Cork city.
