Hunter Valley vineyards fly out the door
After a COVID-19 induced slowdown, the Hunter Valley prestige property market is booming again as buyers, many from Sydney, seek rural boltholes or permanent homes in the renowned wine and lifestyle region.
Veteran Hunter Valley real estate agent Alan Jurd said he and his team had sold 43 properties in July, double their monthly average.
“I haven’t worked so hard in 10 years,” Mr Jurd said.
“I’ve got more than a half a dozen genuine buyers seeking high-end properties between $5 million and $10 million. The only problem is I don’t have anybody really wanting to sell.”
Among the post-lockdown sales negotiated by Jurd’s Real Estate are three renowned estates: the Krinklewood biodynamic vineyard in Broke, the former Black Cluster vineyard in Pokolbin and the Loggerheads vineyard also in Pokolbin.
Krinklewood, a 19-hectare organic vineyard (plus winery and cellar door) set on a 59ha property at the foot of the Brokenback range sold for about $5.5 million including stock to a city-based buyer, Mr Jurd said.
It was offered for sale by winemaker Rod Windrim and his family.
In Pokolbin, the former Black Cluster vineyard, renowned for its old Shiraz vines and once owned by French beverage giant Pernod Ricard, sold for $5.5 million.
The 99ha property at 119 & 139 Mistletoe Lane had been owned by Chinese company Virgo, which paid $3.6 million in 2014.
Mr Jurd said the new owners were “wine industry people” from Sydney.
Also in Pokolbin, the 40ha Loggerheads vineyard, previously owned by ASX-listed Event Hospitality & Entertainment’s QT Hotels changed hands for $6.9 million.
The buyer was Sydney-based Sunflower Fun Pty Ltd, an Arnold Bloch Leibler law firm nominee ??company. The sale has been linked to supermodel Miranda Kerr.
Highlighting the appetite for property and scarcity of stock, Oakgate, a 40-hectare luxury lifestyle property featured in Domain’s Dream Homes sold within a week of being listed by Jurd’s Real Estate.
The buyer was Sydney-based and Mr Jurd said the price paid was confidential. It had a price guide in the high $3 millions.
Dinjalla, a 23ha country estate at Congewai, sold for more than $2 million.
Alongside a surge in inquiries from Sydney buyers, Mr Jurd said he was also getting phone calls and emails from people based overseas.
“I got a call eight weeks ago from a successful property developer based in Washington. He spent a year in Australia when he was 18 riding around and loved it. He wants to pack up his family and come live in Australia … he wants to buy a home in Sydney and in the country.”
Mr Jurd also had an inquiry from someone based in Germany.
“He said he was looking to relocate as he didn’t like the feel of Europe with the social unrest and the prevalence of the virus,” he said.
“We’re going to get some of that overseas capital coming into the country. After an extended period of lockdown, Australia is seen as a pretty safe place to be, as well as clean and with a good standard of living.”
