If you thought the residential market was hot, you should see how much rural properties are going for.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
A 7195 acre property at Cumnock, 40 minutes north west of Orange sold for a staggering $27.5 million earlier this year, while two more properties close to Orange - have sold for $6.9 and $6.6 million in the past two months.
According to specialist lender Rural Bank's Australian Farmland Values 2021 report, the Western and Central regions of NSW recorded the highest growth in median price per hectare in 2020, increasing by 37.5 and 25.5 per cent respectively in 2020.
Last week, rural agent Ben Redfern of Ray White Emms Mooney sold "Mirrabooka Park" a 1221 acre grazing property at Bowan Park, 20 minutes from Orange, for $6.9 million at auction, nearly ten percent above the asking price.
"We had over 30 inspections, 100-odd enquiries and ten registered bidder come auction day," he said.
A fortnight ago, he sold "Chesterfield", a 375 acre grazing property at Forest Reefs for $6.6 million at auction.
"Price expectations were well and truly exceeded there," he said.
"It would have beat the reserve by 40 percent.
"This auction was conducted with three locals, all with other country in the area, and that drove the price to where it is."
The "Catombal Aggregation" at Cumnock was the biggest sale for Ray White Emms Mooney this year, however. The mixed farming property 39 kilometres from Molong went for $27.5 million.
"This year we've seen a lot of depth to the market," Mr Redfern said.
"Be they 400 acres or 7000 acres, there's a number of buyers in the market from all walks of life and what we're finding is the locals are probably pushing the market along more than anything."
He said scarcity was a factor.
"When these bigger holdings come up they are certainly attracting a lot of attention," he said.
"Twelve hundreds acres close to Orange is a pretty rare find."
But it was high commodity prices and low interest rates that were really driving the rural market, he said.
"The Eastern Young Cattle indicator is at 1000-plus cents.
"Sheep and lambs have been strong for a long time - they're trading at $9 and $10 a kilo.
"Canola's trading at $900 a tonne, wheat's over $300 a tonne...so it's all of those factors that are really pushing the market with, coupled with low interest rates.
"That's getting underpinned by investors as well looking to invest in rural, but certainly the strength is that farmers are buying farms again."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.centralwesterndaily.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Catch up on our news headlines at Google News
HAVE YOUR SAY
Send a letter to the editor using the form below