Rural property buyers are closely scrutinising potential purchases as dry conditions prevail and profit margins diminish.
A very dry autumn put a stop to most sale activity with both sellers and buyers lacking confidence, but the desire to sell has started to take priority over achieving top price.
Even though conditions have remained largely the same, spring has triggered some strong transactions in the region.
The sale of “Glendarra”, a 1300 hectare dry land and irrigation block, exceeded expectations last week selling under the hammer for 6.3 million dollars.
With four registered bidders and 43 people in attendance, Ray White Selling Principal, Rob Southwell, said there was strong interest in the property.
“Everyone thought it was the wrong time to be selling with cotton down and no water, and there was recently another irrigation farm that didn’t have a single registered bidder, but it was a strong result, people were quite relieved,” he said.
He believes factors influencing rural property prices are changing.
“People are really doing their homework, they will only pay what they think the property can produce to repay loans, rather than going for an emotive purchase which was common in the past, or looking at what someone has paid in the past,” he said.
“When properties are staying on the market for several years at a time, it’s the price that’s the issue, not the farm.”
Another dry land and irrigation block near Narrabri, “Wonga Plains”, will go to auction on November 7 and is expected to fetch around $6 million.