Lucella, at Garoo, sold by international investor to local buyer in $7.5m-plus deal

Lucella, a 730ha NSW cattle station south of Tamworth, has been offloaded by an by international investor after spending less than three weeks on the market.

Record demand for Australian rural property means sellers are seeing record high prices and record low selling times for some of the country’s highest quality holdings.

In the NSW Upper Hunter Valley region, a 730ha cattle station, south of Tamworth, has been sold to a local buyer after spending just 20 days on the market.

The sale of Lucella, located at 1648 Lindsays Gap Road, Garoo, has been settled with an Australian-based international investor offloading the farm in a deal worth more than $10,000 per hectare ($7.5m-plus).

McGrath Upper Hunter rural and commercial property sales principal and selling agent Michael Burke said in the past 12 months he has seen unprecedented demand for rural property.

“In the past 18 years of selling rural property in the Upper Hunter and in the North West, I’ve not experienced a market like it,” he said.

“We have experienced incredible demand over the course of the last 12 months.”

The Australian-based international investor’s ownership of Lucella was relatively short-lived, after purchasing the property in April 2020 for an undisclosed sum.

He said Lucella’s ideal location and improvements meant it was highly sought after.

“During the sales process we had negotiations with three parties,” he said.

“In the end it was a local buyer who was the successful buyer.

“The property was known to the purchaser as they have held assets in the Garoo-Nundle area before.”

The Lucella farm has the capacity to carry 350 cows and calves.

And with Australia’s rural property market scorching hot in 2022, Mr Burke anticipated shorter sale times to become more common.

“For the next 12 months there will be a shortage of rural property on the market,” he said.

“We have seen high turnover of farms in the past 12 months with owners looking to make the most of strong seasonal and market conditions.

“We are finding assets have got a limited amount of days on market, with many selling prior to auction or before the close of EOI.

“This is very, very different compared to what we saw in 2019 for example.”

The transaction was land only, with the existing stock already sold.

Lucella can carry 350 breeders, however for the past two years the farm has run 1000 mixed females.

While being used and improved to run cattle, Mr Burke said the farm could also be suitable for sheep.

Paired with a high carrying capacity for beef cattle. Lucella also has frontage to the Sandy and Goonoo Goonoo Creeks with 21 dams, two bores and eight new stock watering troughs part of the existing infrastructure.

Heightened demand for rural property extends across the country, with the 735ha Hill View farm sold through auction for $12.9m, setting a 2022 South Australian auction record in the process.