Up to €16k an acre expected for North Kerry farm
Lot 1 of the 90-acre farm for sale at Ballysheen, Ardfert.
Located approximately 6km northeast of the village of Ardfert in North Kerry and 11km north of Tralee, a 90-acre farm is new to the market with Tralee-based auctioneer Ger Carmody.
The property consists of some top-quality pastures as well as a substantial section of forestry and is presented in two lots.
Lot 1 consists of 50 acres of grassland with right-of-way access. It includes a series of traditional-style outbuildings on a disused farmyard.
Lot 2 is a holding of 40 acres, including quality grasslands, as well as 19 acres of forestry land containing a 23-year-old Sitka Spruce plantation.
This part of the county has seen a number of strong sales in recent times, which point to a high price being achieved for this farm. There is also the phenomenon of the ‘Kerry Shares’ that typically come into play when a substantial quantity of better-quality pastures come up for sale. Since the transformation of Kerry Co-op into Kerry Foods, many shareholders have kept their spin-off earnings with the intention of investing them in the commodity they know best — good land.
“It’s very nice land,” says Ger. “It would have been part of an old estate... the inside lot has 50 acres of very good ground and Lot 2 out by the road has 40 acres that includes 19 acres of plantation. Those 21 acres of land by the road are very good as well — it’s all good limestone ground.”
It will be interesting to see how the sale of this holding pans out over the coming weeks. The subdivision of a substantial holding such as this one is the normal approach but one would imagine that ultimately, the entire holding with good road frontage will be more attractive than a second lot with a right-of-way access. Time will tell but so far, there seems to be a good level of interest in both of the lots as well as in the overall holding.
“I’ve had a good few calls on it so far,” says Ger. “This would be a very strong area for dairying primarily but it’s also a good area for beef cattle... we’ve had a few good sales in this area. I’ve sold four or five farms in that region in the last 12-18 months and they’ve all done very well.”
Included in those recent transactions was a parcel of approximately 26 acres, the agent says, which sold for a price in excess of €20,000 per acre.
Water and electricity are available and the price expectation for this rare property is €800,000 (€16,000/acre) for Lot 1 and €400,000 (€10,000/acre) for Lot 2, giving an overall expectation of over €13,000/acre.
