Lifestyle farms snapped up as city buyers escape pandemic
A portfolio of blue-chip lifestyle rural properties in regional NSW generated an 83 per cent clearance rate and $10 million in total sales at auction last week.
Real estate agents attributed this success in part to city people seeking the comfort of space and isolation away from the pandemic.
Of the six properties within a few hours’ drive of Sydney five sold, including three under the hammer, one prior to auction and one soon after.
“Demand for lifestyle properties is very strong,” said selling agent David Nolan, from Webster Nolan Real Estate, who marketed all six.
“People want to get out of the cities. A bit of that I think has to do with COVID-19.
“The people we sell to are financially secure. They are not borrowing money. They might have sold large homes in Sydney and are moving to the country.”
“It’s a very strong market – there has been no disruption to values [due to the pandemic],” Mr Nolan said.
Of the six properties offered for sale through AuctionWorks, the top price achieved under the hammer was $2.425 million for Tareena, set on 67 hectares of prime Manning River grazing country near Taree, about 3.5 hours from Sydney on the NSW Mid North Coast.
The property included a four-bedroom home with swimming pool, a second two-bedroom home and 20 stables.
Kywong North, a 43-hectare lifestyle farm set within rolling countryside, near Orange with frontage to trout-rich Molong Creek, sold for $1.82 million. It had a listing price of just under $1 million in September last year.
Also selling under the hammer was 56-hectare Brechin on the Princes Highway near Narooma on NSW South Coast. The grazing property which offered ocean and Montague Island views had been owned by the same family for the past 49 years. It sold for $1.575 million.
Baralan, a horse and cattle property on 121 hectares at Wapengo on the Sapphire Coast sold prior to auction. The price was not disclosed but it was expected to sell for more than $2.5 million.
It offered three homes and views over Lake Wapengo, which Mr Nolan said was renowned for its fishing and oysters. “In terms of lifestyle it does not get much better than that. Plus it has three houses so there’s space for your family and your mates,” he said.
Lastly, Aspinal Farm, on about 29 hectares overlooking Wagonga Inlet at Narooma, sold after auction for more than $1.4 million.
The only property that did not sell was 656-hectare Branxton Park at 726 Goulburn Road in Boro in the Queanbeyan-Palerang region south of Goulburn.
The Southern Highlands sheep and cattle property featuring a substantial homestead complex overlooking a lake is now on the market for $5.1 million.
