The latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand figures on the sales of rural property show the number of sales is down on a year-on-year comparison.

The figures show that in the three month period ending August this year there were 15 farms sold.

This is down on the equivalent August period last year when 23 farms were sold and is down on the August 2009 period when 22 were sold.

The lifestyle property market is similar with 88 sold in the August period this year, against 74 in the equivalent period last year and 97 in the August 2009 period.

There were 101 lifestyle properties sold in the Bay of Plenty in the three month period ending July this year.

The median selling price per hectare of the farms sold in the August period this year is $63,333.

This is down on the equivalent periods in the last two years with it at $156,250 in the August 2010 period and at $84,673 in the August 2009 period.

The median sales price per hectare for Bay of Plenty farms in the July 2011 period was $95,000.