Reilly family sell Bennelong, near Swan Hill, for about $17m

A southern NSW farm has almost doubled in value in the past five years, fetching $6m more than the initial asking price.

A southern NSW farm on the Murray River has been snapped up for a figure well-above its initial asking price.

Bennelong, a 2008ha farm at Cobramunga, near Swan Hill, has sold to Melton South property developers, the Green family, through their company Blue Sun Pty Ltd.

The Green family secured the property in a deal understood to be about $17 million with 2140ML Murray Zone 11 General Security Entitlements purchased at market value separately.

The farm was listed for sale by the Reilly family from Corack, in the Buloke Shire, in February with price expectations north of $11m, exclusive of water entitlements.

In 2016 Bennelong was listed for sale with a price tag of about $8-$9m, with the farm almost doubling in value in the past five years.

The Green family’s acquisition adds to their expanding agricultural portfolio, which also includes several farms between Tocumwal and Deniliquin.

Elders Real Estate Deniliquin agent Matt Horne said there was a significant amount of local and regional interest for the property.

The Reilly family listed the Bennelong farm for sale in February.

“It was an exceptional outcome for all parties involved. The Green’s secured an

excellent rural asset and the sale now allows the Reilly family time to concentrate on

their Victorian landholdings,” he said.

“We had a strong marketing program with numerous inspections, with the Green

family being the ultimate purchasers.”

A price of about $8466 a hectare was paid for Bennelong. The median price per hectare of Murray River Council farmland was $3461 last year.

Local contractors have assisted with the 2022 sowing program at Bennelong, with a

member of the Green family relocating to the Murray riverfront holding to manage the farm.

A price of about $8466 a hectare was paid for Bennelong.

Lentils, chick peas, canola, vetch and dryland lucerne were grown last year while also

running composite ewes and lambs.

Mr Horne and Elders Swan Hill agent Peter Robertson handled the sale.

On the eastern side of the southern Riverina, a local buyer has paid at least $11m as a farm near Berrigan was sold for the first time in more than a century.