Buyers from south and north converge on New England

One of the latest New England properties to sell this week was the 1460-hectare Rimbanda, located about halfway between Armidale and Tamworth, which runs 600 Angus cows and calves in normal seasons.

Bidding started at $7 million and, after 38 bids that included strong competition from a local farmer, the property was knocked down to an undisclosed Riverina grazier for $8.92m, Davidson Cameron & Co agent Simon Burke said.

Based in Tamworth, Mr Burke said his team had been fielding a lot of inquiries from Queenslanders chasing more reliable rainfall towards the end of 2020 and early in 2021.

As the year progressed, though, they'd seen a lot more Victorian and southern inquiry, as the migration of Melburnians into regional areas pushed up land prices in the Riverina.

"They were chasing a bit of value: broader acres and heavier carrying capacity for similar money that they got for their smaller holdings in Victoria," Mr Burke said.

"If you're going to pay $20m for a 1000-acre block in the southern districts or you can pay $9-$10m for a 3000-4000-acre block in the New England to produce similar numbers of livestock, it's really a no-brainer if you ask me."

Now, he said, New England properties were drawing buyers from almost every direction - north, south and local.

Interest from investors was surging for farmland of all sizes, too.

"When I'm saying investors, I'm not talking about just corporates, I'm talking about your mum and dad investors, who have been off the farm or the kids off the farm looking to expand," Mr Burke said.

"We're not seeing any particular group of buyers more prominent than any others.

"It's pretty much right across the board, whether it's a corporate investment, or an agricultural investment for a pastoral company or a family operation."

Meares & Associates agent Chris Meares is currently marketing Greg Upton's 2668 hectares in the heart of New England, which is expected to make at least $70m and perhaps $80m at its auction this week.

He said there had been interest in New England properties from buyers in South Australia and Victoria but the two strongest states were Queensland and New South Wales.

"Parts of Queensland today are still dry," Mr Meares said.

"These guys want to be vertically integrated where they can, so they're looking for a home to finish livestock, really.

"The options are sell as weaners, sell as backgrounders, or fatten, take them right through, and one of the good things about this area is that you can do that.

"You would be amazed how many cattle there are in the New England on agistment from Queensland. It's quite staggering."

Also in property:

Farmland buyer caution growing

Volcanic soils, Tablelands rainfall, profitable farming and luxury living

Mr Meares said the fertility and high rainfall of parts of the region also made it very attractive to farmers from the western end of the Riverina in particular.

"The Riverina is very much winter rainfall and you probably get mid 20s, you might get 30 if you're over on the eastern side, but you come up here and all of a sudden you're in a 45-inch rainfall area with heavy basalt soils," he said.

"There's just nothing better and there's a limited supply of it, not all the New England's like this."

There were some regions of New South Wales, Mr Meares said, that were likely to outperform most, even when conditions became less favourable.

"This area here from Niangala through to Ebor is a micromarket," he said.

"It's bulletproof. You won't find values here, the Liverpool Plains or the upper Murray dropping."

Have you signed up to The Land's free daily newsletter? Register below to make sure you are up to date with everything that's important to NSW agriculture.