A prime farming block of 80 hectares on the Kiewa Valley Highway, 15 minutes east of Wodonga, sold at weekend auction, for $1,425,000.

Located at 1726 Kiewa Valley Highway, Ruralco Property’s Wodonga office sold the property known as Berkeley Moor.

Ending 41 years of family ownership, the purchaser is a local district businessman.

The vendors Peter and Leonie Adams home farm at Staghorn Flat was listed as part of their plan to downsize.

The Berkeley Moor property is a mix of rich river flats with a direct exposure of some 600 metres to the Kiewa River.

The portion of river flats retain a mix of good pasture, vegetation and majestic red gums while the balance of the property is the higher ground where there are numerous potential home building sites.

Located in the Indigo Shire there is an as of right entitlement to obtain a building permit for a home on the property.

The holding is essentially rectangular with about 400 metres frontage to the Kiewa Valley Highway.

Peter Adams says he normally runs fifty cows and calves on the property where the pastures receive a regular annual superphosphate application.

“There is good fencing, a set of cattle yards and a large steel framed hay shed on Berkeley Moor together with an old original dairy building.

“The Hume Weir is only ten minutes away with 88kms to Falls Creek” he noted.

Ruralco Property selling agent Peter Ruaro said it was a tightly held local area so he was anticipating offers would exceed $1.2 million.

There was a relatively large number of cane farm sales in 2016 at central Queensland due to improved market sentiment caused by higher sugar prices, according to a Herron Todd White’s recent report.

The property valuation firm says that values remained generally firm.

Prospects for value growth through 2017 appeared likely up until milling reliability prevented the 2016-17 crop from being fully harvested.

It has been reported that approximately $20 million of crop has been left to stand over after one of the longest crushing seasons in history.

Growers who had hoped to expand in 2017 will now be reconsidering because of lower returns from the 2016–17 crop and expected lower yields from the 2017–18 crop due to follow on effects from the most recent crushing season.

Milling reliability is a now a major concern to cane farmers and will be a critical issue to farm values in the years ahead.

Brisbane-based fashion retailer Michael Josephson and his wife Melissa have bought the historic Boscobel homestead in the Southern Highlands.

They paid $4.3 million for the 1870s-built mansion, which has been the home of recruitment industry boss Steven Hallis since 2007.

It has been on and off the market through for two year most recently listed with Bill Carpenter, of WC Carpenter.

Josephson is the co-founder of the successful lifestyle fashion chain Universal Store.

The 48.5-hectare property in Sutton Forest was the long-time thoroughbred breeding stud of Richard Turnley.

The largest rural land parcel at Tuggeranong has been listed for $7.5 million.

Located at 1079 Tharwa Drive, the property sits on the eastern side of the historical Tharwa Bridge.

It has five kilometres of Murrumbidgee River frontage.

It consists of 1342 hectares of river corridor, pasture improved farming land and signficant woodlands.

There is a 99 year lease on the farming land that has been used since the 1850s.

It also has a homestead featuring five bedrooms and two bathrooms along with a large study and separated living areas.

A pool is also available along with a powered shearing shed, farm shed and feed storage sheds.

The farm sits as the gateway to Tharwa Village.

The property is offered through Civium Commercial agent Andrew Smith and Raine and Horne Commercial agents Nick Cotis and Frank Morella.

Over the 12 months to November 2016, a total of 49,623 residential houses and agricultural properties were sold across regional New South Wales, according to Harcourt’s latest report.

The volume of properties transacting was down -6.8 percent compared with this time last year while the total value of sales fell -2.2 percent to $24.6 billion over the same period.

Over the year to November 2016, residential house sales accounted for 75.9 percent of transactions and 67.8 percent of the value of all sales.

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There were 11,971 agricultural properties sold over the 12 months to November, -8.9 percent fewer than the previous year when 13,140 properties transacted.

Of the 11,971 sales, 68.4 percent were on a land size of less than 40 hectares, 15.2 percent were on 40 to 100 hectares.

14.5 percent were on 100 to 1,000 hectares and 1.9 percent of properties were on more than 1,000 hectares.

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Looking at the value of agricultural property sales, $7.9 billion properties transacted across regional New South Wales over the year to November 2016.

This is down -5.5 percent from $8.4 billion the previous year.

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58.8 percent of the overall value was for properties sold on a land size of less than 40 hectares, 12.9 percent were for lots between 40 and 100 hectares in size.

19.6 percent were on 100 to 1,000 hectares and 8.7 percent were on more than 1,000 hectares.

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Outside of Perth there were 8,007 residential house and agricultural sales over the year to November 2016, only 3 more sales than the 12 months to November 2015, according to Harcourts’ latest report.

While the number of sales remains virtually unchanged over the year; the value of these sales fell -1.4% to $3.7 billion over the year.

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In terms of the number of sales, 69.7% of all sales were residential properties, while in value terms, residential properties accounted for 55.2% of the total value of sales across regional Western Australia.

Compared to one year ago there were -5.5% fewer agricultural sales across regional Western Australia over the year to November 2016.

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Of the 2,427 sales, the majority (65.7%) were on land sizes of less than 40 hectares, while 16.4% of transactions were on lots between 40 and 100 hectares.

15.3% were on between 100 and 1,000 hectares and 2.6% of sales were on land sizes larger than 1,000 hectares.

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Looking at the value of sales that transacted over the year to November 2016, agricultural sales accounted for $1.7 billion worth of sales, an increase of 1.1% compared to the same time 12 months ago.

Of the total value of sales, 43.8% were for properties on less than 40 hectares, 18.6% were for properties on between 40 and 100 hectares.

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31.1 percent were for properties ranging between 100 and 1,000 hectares and 6.5 percent were for properties larger than 1,000 hectares.

A large Chinese pig, poultry and stockfeed company, Shenzhen Kondarl, has told the Shenzhen stock exchange it is close to finalising the purchase of Australia’s biggest avocado farm for as much as a billion Chinese yuan ($192 million).

But Neil Delory, the Australian owner of Jasper Farms at Busselton, Western Australia, stated that no deal had been done.

He confirmed that two of his highly productive avocado farms were being offered to both local and overseas investors through Ernst and Young, but said he was confused by the announcement.

Mr Delory said no memorandum of understanding for the sale had been signed with the Chinese company, and that Australian bidders were still in the race.

It is believed that the announcement may have been a signal to investors that it has permission to spend a billion yuan for purchasing a property or business outside of China.

Such a large farm purchase would also require permission from Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.

Mr Delory admits that the announcement especially annoyed him as it has caused confusion for his brother Russell Delroy who has an avocado farm under the trading name Delory Orchards and supplies 25 percent of Coles supermarkets’ avocado demand.

Italian Hill at Daylesford, set in one of Victoria's finest private gardens, has sold to Dr Marcus Carey and artist wife Margo for a suburb record $2.05 million.

The property with a straw bale home and two further mud-brick guest cottages had been the work of a retired Melbourne businessman over the last 12 years.

The main residence has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and vast expanses of decking overlooking the garden.

Hand-hewn stone paths and local stone walk ways wind around the garden featuring rolling lawns, vegetable gardens, a rose garden and an idyllic waterfall.

Kim McQueen at Colliers International sold the home.

She also just sold one of Daylesfords grand mansions, Mount Stuart House, for $2 million.

Built in 1860, the home has had a varied history, used as a hospital for soliders, a maternity hospital and more recently a bed and breakfast and private home.

Mount Stuart House sold to A local buyer Louise Melotte when sold by Melbourne owner David Harris who paid $398,000 in 1999.

Kim McQueen said it cemented the boutique spa town as a hot spot for investors looking to take advantage of one of Victoria's most popular tourist destinations.

This article first appeared in The Weekend Australian Mansion Australia section. 

Across the regional areas of Tasmania, a total of 6,074 residential house and agricultural properties sold over the year to November 2016, according to Harcourts’ latest report.

This represents a fall of 3.5 percent, meaning there were 222 fewer sales when compared to one year ago, while the total value of sales fell 4.5 percent to $1.7 billion over the 12 months to November 2016.

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Agricultural properties accounted for 27.1% of all regional Tasmanian sales and 32.1% of the value of sales.

Regional Tasmania recorded 1,647 agricultural sales over the year, 4.5% fewer than the previous year.

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Looking at land size, the majority of sales were on less than 40 hectares, with transactions in this category accounting for 93.3% of all agricultural sales.

The remaining sales were split between 40 to 100 hectares (4.3%), 100 to 1,000 hectares (2.4%) and greater than 1,000 hectares (0.1%).

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The total value of the 1,647 agricultural sales that transacted over the year to November 2016 was worth $553.9 million, -7.3% lower than over the 12 months to November 2015.

Broken down in to land sizes, 82.4% of the total value of sales was for properties less than 40 hectares, followed by 40 to 100 hectares (9.0%) and 100 to 1,000 hectares (8.5%).

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A mixed farming property at 294 Brackneil Road, Bracknell (above) has been listed for over $1 million.

Similarly a mixed farming property at 19595 Tasman Highway, Seymour (below) has been listed for over $1.2 million.

A mixed farming property at 1854 Sheffield Road, Barrington (below) was sold recently for $2.65 million.

Similarly a mixed farming property at 83 Haywoods Lane, Somerset (below) was sold on February this year for $520,000.

There were 29,833 residential houses and agricultural properties sold throughout regional Victoria over the year to November 2016, according to Harcourts’ latest report.

This is down 11.3 percent when compared to the same period last year, meaning there were 3,373 fewer sales over the year.

The total value of the 29,833 transactions was recorded at $11.3 billion, down 8.8 percent from $12.3 billion from November 2015.

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The total number of residential house transactions across regional Victoria accounted for 73.5 percent of all transactions and 67.3 percent of the total value of sales over the year.

Regional Victoria recorded 7,898 agricultural property sales over the past year amounting to $3.7 billion worth of transactions.

This represents a 19.8 percent fall in sales volumes and a 17.5 percent fall in the total value of transactions.

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Looking at the land size of the 7,898 agricultural sales, 78.8 percent were on lots less than 40 hectares, 12.2 percent were on lots between 40 and 100 hectares.

Some 8.8 percent were on 100-1,000 hectares and 0.2 percent of the sales were for lots greater than 1,000 hectares.

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Of the $3.7 billion in agricultural sales over the year to November 2016, the total value of transactions was spread across various lot sizes with lots on less than 40 hectares accounting for 64.1 percent.

Meanwhile 15.0 percent were on lots ranging from 40 to 100 hectares, 18.5 percent on lots ranging between 100 to 1,000 hectares and 2.4 percent on lots greater than 1,000 hectares.

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A mixed farming property at 695 Andrews Road, Kyabram South (above) has been sold recently on March for $400,000.

Similarly a rural property at 75 Davey Road, Springmount (below) was sold recently on March for $575,000.

A rural farm at 923 Burke and Wills Track, Benloch (below) has been listed for $679,000.

Similarly a rural farm at 90 Olsen Road, Nar Nar Goon North (below) has been listed for $595,000 plus.

A 14 acre SA farmland hills at Basket Range has been listed for $1.35 million.

Located at 16 Taylors Road, the Orchard House features fruit-producing farmland, views and a 1920 grand manor.

The grazing pasture is complete with fencing ready for stock, orchards of apple, cherry, walnuts, citrus and pears with a pure spring-water bore for the whole property.

The manor has stunning fireplaces, formal and informal living areas along with five bedroom plus a study and two and a half bathrooms.

It comes with a 100 year old packing shed, veggie patch and horse/stock grazing paddock.

The property is 30 minutes from Adelaide CBD.

The property is offered through Harcourts Adelaide Hills agent Sharon Reeves.

Three central Queensland cattle stations are up for sale by US coal mining giant Peabody Energy.

They are tipped to fetch around $60 million.

The properties known as Iffley, Deverill and Twenty Mile near Moranbah have a combined 41,500 hectares, currently leased to Australian Cattle and Beef Holdings.

The three cattle stations are being marketed by CBRE's Geoff Warriner and Chris Holgar.

Geoff Warriner said the property sizes, value and strength of current management match investment mandates of both major industry participants and institutional investors.

“The opportunity to secure an aggregation of this scale within such a renowned and highly productive livestock region that offers direct access to transport routes and close to end markets, is both unique and strongly sought after," he said.

Mr Holgar said the opportunity was also positioned to capitalise on the strength of Australia’s beef sector.

“Given the strong interest in large scale grazing land, the sale of these properties comes at an opportune time for the industry,” he said.

The properties are located approximately 38 kilometres south east of Moranbah, 130 kilometres south west of Mackay and 240 kilometres north west of Rockhampton.

The properties are offered in one line or as separate assets via a forthcoming expressions of interest campaign.

Regional South Australia had 6,550 residential house and agricultural sales over the year to November 2016, around the same as in 2015, according to Harcourts’ latest report.

The value of these sales fell slightly, down -0.9 percent to $2.3 billion over the same period.

Looking at how many of these sales were for residential properties, they accounted for 74.5 percent of all sales and 58.8 percent of the total value of sales.

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Agricultural property sales accounted for 25.5 percent of all transactions across regional South Australia, with 1,669 transactions over the 12 months to November 2016, increasing by 0.7 percent, or 11 sales, when compared to the 12 months to November 2015.

“If we look at land sizes, just over half of these sales were on lots of less than 40 hectares (53.7 percent), followed by 100 to 1,000 hectares (28.0 percent) and 40 to 100 hectares (15.2 percent),” the report stated.

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Land sizes greater than 1,000 hectares accounted for just 3 percent of sales.

The value of agricultural transactions increased to $934.2 million, up 1.7 percent over the year to November 2016.

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Properties on land ranging from 100 to 1,000 hectares accounted for 43.9 percent of the total value of sales, while lots on less than 40 hectares made up 33.9 percent of the total value.

Lots between 40 to 100 hectares accounted for 13.4% of total value, while lots greater than 1,000 accounted for 8.8 percent.

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A 19 acre rural farm property at 15 McLeod Lane, Whites Flat (above) has been listed for $360,000.

Similarly a 100 acre rural property at 414 Pound Road, Macclesfield (below) has been listed for between $700,000 to $770,000.

A 9 acre rural property at 1474 Mallala Road, Korunye (below) has been recently sold for $250,000.

Similarly a 1284 acre mixed farming property at Martins Camp Road, Keith (below) was recently sold for $1.31 million

Monomeith Park at Monomeith, just over 15 minutes from Pakenham, has been listed by the Bourke family after three generations of ownership.

The Bourke family has successfully run sheep and beef cattle on the 228 hectare grazing property.

It is for sale at $24,710 per hectare ($10,000 an acre) through Ruralco Property, Pakenham agent Ray Cullen.

Robert Bourke said his family’s ownership stretched back to 1907 when the run was about 3000 acres running beef cattle and, until the late 1940s, 8000 sheep.

The old woolshed and press are still here.

Sir Sidney Kidman was a great friend of the family and often visited Bourke's grandfather.

The double-fronted weatherboard homestead, built in 1899 and heritage-listed by Cardinia Shire, is surrounded by the sea of flowers in Vivienne Bourke’s garden.

Emerald View, a 96 hectare rural lifestyle property in the historic Grandchester district, has been listed for May 5 Ray White auction.

It has been held in the one extended family for the past 147 years.

The family cattle brand (HRO) was the fifth registered cattle brand in Queensland, owned throughout that time by the Rafter and McLaughlin families.

Emerald View has been an ideal farm for grazing - initially a dairy farm but operating as a cattle property since 1968.

Emerald View is located 75 kilometres or just over an hour from the Brisbane CBD.

There are more than 40 acres of fertile alluvial creek flats that have previously been cultivated with around 70% or over 160 acres is cleared.

The house, first built in 1966, was raised in 1987 and extended and renovated six years ago, with wide wraparound varandahs on three sides.

A total of 18,074 residential houses and agricultural properties transacted across the regional areas of Queensland over the 12 months to November 2016, according to Harcourts latest report.

The report says that this represents a fall in sales volume when compared to the previous year, down -8.4% or 1,651 fewer transactions.

The 18,074 sales are made up of 16,454 residential properties and 1,620 agricultural properties and they account for $7.2 billion worth of sales over the last 12 months, down -8.1% from one year ago.

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Over the year to November 2016, 1,620 agricultural properties sold across regional Queensland.

Although sales volumes fell by -6.8% over the last 12 months, the total value of sales increased by 7.8% to $1.8 billion over the same period.

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The 1,620 agricultural properties accounted for just 9% of the total transactions across regional Queensland this year, and of these sales, 14.2% were on less than 40 hectares, 35.7% between 40 to 100 hectares.

35.6% were on lots between 100 to 1,000 hectares and 14.4% were on land greater than 1,000 hectares in size.

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Of the $1.8 billion worth of agricultural sales for the year ending November 2016, sales over 1,000 hectares accounted for 52.1% of the overall value of agricultural sales.

This is followed by properties on lots ranging from 100 to 1,000 hectares (26.9%), 40 to 100 hectares (15.2%) and less than 40 hectares (5.8%).

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A 40 acre rural property at 24 Macadamia Road, Jones Hill (above) has been listed for over $800,000.

Similarly a 110 acre mixed farming property at 572 Kanyan Road, Theebine (below) has been listed for $750,000.

A 50 acre rural property at 72 Freemans Road, Lower Beechmont (below) was sold this March for $980,000.

Similarly a 15 acre rural property at LS1286 117 Peeramon Road, Kureen (below) was sold this March for $520,000.

A parcel of 24 rural properties located in Victoria’s agricultural region of Colac Otway is being marketed by CBRE Agribusiness.

Located between Geelong and Portland, the portfolio consists of properties ranging in size from 30 hectares to 240 hectares, including some harvested properties that will be available for purchase with vacant possession.

Comprising around 2,600ha of freehold land, it is currently planted to Eucalyptus Globulus.

CBRE’s Peter and Jarrod Ryan are marketed the properties.

According to Peter, the portfolio represented an outstanding opportunity to acquire attractively priced land in a reliable, high rainfall agricultural region.

“Previous to its current use as a timber plantation, the properties were utilised for either high value dairy or grazing – and provide significant scope for reversion to these uses,” he said.

“Alternatively, post-harvest, the properties are suitable to replant to a range of timber species, with their location ideal for plantation management being situated within haulage range to export ports at Geelong and Portland, and also close to processing facilities at Colac, Geelong and Portland.”

The Otway Portfolio is being offered for sale either as a portfolio, individual properties or any combination to suit requirements.

Asset manager New Forests Asset Management is also seeking to enter into sale and leaseback arrangements with the purchaser, retaining management of the properties until the conclusion of each harvest.

The former centrepiece of Nathan Tinkler's Hunter Valley horse breeding empire is back on the market.

With cattle now grazing in paddocks, it has been on and off the market since 2014, when a mooted $120 million sale to Middle East interests collapsed.

More recently a Sutherland Shire family came close to buying.  

The Patinack horse breeding and racing empire was a dream venture of the former coal baron, funded in his desperate last days by the retailer Gerry Harvey who has yet to secure the full debt being repaid. 

Harvey holds first mortgages over the land which liquidators have set a May 4 offer deadline through MacCallum Inglis agent Michael Burke. 

Raine & Horne Rural Sydney has finalised a joint venture with aviation firm Fleet Helicopters to help transport its high-net worth clients and investment fund managers to property inspections across Australia.

Andrew Tout, director of Raine & Horne Rural Sydney said some clients manage investment funds worth more than $60 billion and they want to see as many agricultural assets as possible.

“The joint venture with Fleet Helicopters, which has a fleet of 39 choppers, is proving a game changer for our time-poor clients," he said.

“Our clients are private entities and maintaining their confidentiality is paramount."

Rural sales activity is increasing in south-west Victoria, according to Herron Todd White’s latest report.

The activity is primarily small to medium size farms purchased by local farmers wishing to expand.

The property valuation firm says there is strong interest in grazing holdings suitable for sheep or beef cattle of between 100 and 175 hectares, as well as larger holdings up to 800 hectares.

“Agents report the enquiry for outpaddocks around Warrnambool is very strong, listings are down and agents’ real estate advertisements are now regularly including a list of wanted property for prospective purchasers,” the report advised.

“We are aware of a large dairy farm in the Mount Gambier district having just been purchased by a private New Zealand syndicate.

“An expression of interest marketing closing on 21 April 2017 for a well developed dairy farm of 160 hectares between Cobden and Simpson will provide a pointer to the current dairy farm market.” 

A rural cropping land at 35 Settlers Lane, Illowa (above) has been listed for $325,000.

Similarly a 20 hectare rural land at 135 Boiling Down Road, Warrnambool (below) has been listed for sale.