A number of rural properties held up over April as vendors waited out the initial wave of coronavirus restrictions are due to hit the market in the next few months.
While for many rural property agents it has always been "business as usual", despite inspection difficulties due to social distancing rules, some decided April was a month to avoid.
After a quiet April, Webster Nolan has announced it will bring six rural properties for auction in July, with more "exciting" properties for sale to be announced soon.
One of the properties for auction is the historic 1303 hectare Digilah Station at Dunedoo that will go to auction on July 21.
But some April sales went ahead and achieved above reserve prices, including Collier's sale of Mooresprings, a 1107ha Monaro property that sold for $6 million in late April.
Leading agents say there are obvious "hotspots" for rural sales in NSW at the moment - the Northern Tablelands and coastal properties. Some reported that the good rain had encouraged landholders who were keen to sell earlier to hold back properties to make some good returns while they could.
Nutrien Harcourts' Dubbo agent Mat Smith said it was a case of a "location by location" situation for rural sales with some hotspots including the Northern Tablelands where conditions had improved.
"Those that have come out of the drought more quickly are more likely to hit the market first," he said.
He said the main issue had just been the logistics of exposure for sales, allowing buyers to view properties. The closure of the Queensland border had also hampered prospective buyers.
But he said there was a lot of confidence in the rural market, and the stress of the drought had faded for many and some were playing "catch up" on their farms with the good season and holding off selling.
One of Nutrien Harcourts properties is near Dunedoo, that has had above average seasonal rain. The Ranch, with 400ha, is expected to sell quickly with "fertile soils and crops knee high". The vendors have been running the property remotely out of Cobar and are moving interstate. Nutrien Harcourts Dubbo also have a blue-ribbon property near Yeoval coming online soon.
Angus McLaren, Miller and James, Temora, currently offering the prestige 922ha Cootamundra property Bindinyah, said he hadn't seen a problem with the market and there couldn't be a better time to invest with low interest rates and high commodity and livestock prices. Mr McLaren said one issue he found was that banks had been a little slow in providing finance to purchasers. 'Expressions of interest' sales had avoided social distancing issues.