Which Tas region’s farmland outperforms the rest?
No.1370 Myalla Rd, Milabena was sold this year in a multimillion dollar deal. Picture: realestate.com.au
TASMANIAN farmland sales have tightened significantly through the first half of this year.
The new Rural Bank Australian Farmland Values Mid-Year Update shows just 60 Tassie transactions.
This was the lowest sales volume for a half-year period in almost three decades, the report says.
This result was 63.9 per cent lower compared to one year ago, and 56.2 per cent lower than the last half of 2022.
However, the decline in sales comes on the back of “an exceptional period of growth in the previous three years”.
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Year-on-year median price change.
Tasmania’s median price per hectare in the first half of 2023 was $14,034, a 24.7 per cent annual reduction. That is a shift from the previous three half-year periods, which had year-on-year growth ranging from 15 to 33 per cent.
Rural Bank senior insights manager, Greg Kuchel, said while Tasmania recorded a decline in the value of farmland overall, one region stood out.
“North West Tasmania has the second most valuable farmland in Australia,” he said.
“And while the state’s median price fell in the first half of the year, this decline likely reflects the low number of transactions that were recorded — low-value grazing properties — rather than an overall substantial decline in property values in Tasmania.”
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Rural Bank Australian Farmland Values report for Tasmania. Price left, sales right.
The North West’s median price per hectare is more than double its neighbouring Northern region — $24,358 versus $9005.
In the South, the median price for the first half of the year was $14,034.
There were 22 North West Sales, 15 Northern and 20 in the South.
Property records show a 146ha Milabena dairy farm was sold earlier this year for $5.0764m, while another 186ha dairy property in Flowerdale fetched $6.5m in October.
A Black River cropping property was sold in February for $5.3088m.
No.530 Waddamana Rd, Hermitage is on the market.
Meanwhile, the vast Hermitage Estate — a 4353ha mixed farming property — hit the market for the first time in decades. Its sale campaign is set to close this week.
On the East Coast, a large-scale 1048ha viticultural/horticultural opportunity dubbed Swansea Farm is on the market. It will be sold by expressions of interest, closing in mid-November.
