Major farm sales in Australia in 2021, and new listings

Our list details the latest farm sales and listings seeking millions – including a property in southwest Victoria owned by a TV star.

Purrumbete at Weerite in southwest Victoria was recently listed for sale.

RURAL property prices are running hot, with farms selling for record prices – and experts say it shows no sign of stopping.

The autumn selling season has seen farms hitting record prices per hectare. Low interest rates, strong seasonal conditions and commodity prices, as well as investor appetite, is said to be behind the red-hot market.

One of the biggest sales recently was in North East Victoria, where a dairy farm sold for more than $37,000 a hectare, or $15,000 an acre – record territory for this area.

The 132-hectare property, Pehuen Park at Tallangatta South, smashed price expectations by almost $1 million and was purchased for $4.9 million by Meurer Investments. It had an asking price of about $4 million when listed.

In Victoria’s Western District, a grazing property near Hamilton recently sold for $3.41 million, equating to $22,341 per hectare, or $9045 an acre – a record for the district. The property, Tarrellar Park, had been owned by Ian and Kay O’Connell for 15 years and was snapped up by Cavendish farmer Tony Astbury.

At Yalla-Y-Poora, near Skipton, a 179-hectare cropping and grazing property sold for $23,588 a hectare, or $9550 an acre – another record.

Major farms to hit the market recently include one of the country’s biggest grain farm businesses.

Macquarie Agriculture – the nation’s second-biggest farmland investor – listed its Lawson Grains portfolio for sale, with experts believing it could make as much as $600 million. The portfolio comprises 105,000 hectares, or more than a quarter of a million acres, of cropping land in NSW and Western Australia.

Mining magnate and rich-lister Gina Rinehart also listed seven of her cattle stations for sale in March. The properties, located in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, total almost 1.9 million hectares in size and are worth an estimated $300 million.

In southwest Victoria, the historic property Purrumbete at Weerite near Camperdown has been listed for sale with an asking price of about $10 million.

The 215ha grazing property, built on the banks of Lake Purrumbete, will be sold via expressions of interest.

Purrumbete was first settled by the Manifold family in 1839.

It’s current owner is Lawrie Voutier and wife Sue, who along with the teenage son, were the stars of trash-to-treasure show Demolition Man, which aired on A & E in 2017.

And the buyer of a historic property in Gippsland was revealed at the beginning of this month. Nambrok estate was purchased by local farmers Malcolm and Genevieve Davies from Foster, who run Greenwald Investments.

The mixed farming and lifestyle estate was listed for sale in August 2019 by the McGauran family, which includes former Agriculture Minister Peter McGauran and former Senator Julian McGauran.

Rural property specialist Danny Thomas from LAWD says almost every new campaign coming on the market is making a record price.

“Demand is extraordinary and people are looking for different investment opportunities,” Thomas says. “New sources of money are coming from North America and Europe and we are just starting to see a shift in local super funds.”

Inglis Rural Property manager Sam Triggs says Australian farmland is relatively cheap compared to the rest of the world. “The farming-family model is also as competitive as we have ever seen,” Triggs says.

Recent major farm sales:

SOLD:

Karbarook, Milbrulong, NSW

$8.4 million

Yaloke, Deniliquin, NSW

$9.35 million

Kabinga, Marnoo, Vic

$3.9 million, or $15,445/ha

Grazing farm, Miga Lake, Vic

$6.65 million, or $19,164/ha

Cropping and grazing farm, Yalla-Y-Poora, Vic

$4.22 million, or $23,588/ha

Pehuen Park, Tallangatta South, Vic

$4.9 million, or $37,121/ha

Tarrellar Park, Strathkellar, Vic

$3.41 million, or $22,341/ha

FOR SALE:

Lawson Grains cropping farms, NSW & WA

$600 million

Hancock Agriculture cattle stations, WA & NT

$300 million

Achentee, Waubra, Vic

$15 million

Purrumbete, Weerite, Vic

About $10 million

Mayfield, Bungowannah, NSW

$22,140/ha

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