ONE of the Riverina’s most prestigious rural holdings Buckingong Station and Oakdale, located near Narrandera, have been sold for $15 million.
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The sale follows on from another high profile Murrumbidgee River property, Berry Jerry Station, which changed hands earlier this year.
Buckingbong Station spanned 4544 hectares and Oakdale Station was 453ha.
The sale was negotiated by Danny Thomas and Chris Davidson of CBRE on behalf of the Seidel family with Geoff Palmer of Ray White Rural, Wagga, introducing the buyer.
While the buyer was not disclosed, a company called Buckingbong Station was registered in February, whose directors and shareholders include Ronald and Nicola Winestock of Sydney and Nepalese-born Anil Joshi of Melbourne. Mr Thomas said the highly-competitive campaign saw strong interest from a range of high net worth and institutional investors.
Despite publicity about interest in Australian rural holdings from foreign investors real estate agents are saying there is “local” demand within the market too.
Earlier this year buying activity surged in the Riverina when three major holdings were sold in a matter of weeks.
The properties included Berry Jerry Station, Natue near Booligal and “Ferndale”, in the Cootamundra district.
It was the first time “Ferndale” – which was only on the market for six weeks – had changed hands since 1869.
NSW Farmers president and Corowa farmer, Derek Schoen, said plenty of operators were looking to increase their holding.
In fact, he has doubled his own agricultural operation in the past three years.
He attributed the purchases to the the lower interest rates and buoyant commodity outlook.
“It is an ideal opportunity … there is a bright future in agriculture,” he said.
“There is overall optimism and the downturn in the mining sector has played a role too,” he said.
Mr Schoen said it was promising to see properties remain in the hands of locals.
“I think there is a place for foreign investment but it is always good to see the family farming operations holding onto agricultural land in NSW,” he said.
“Property prices are really on the way up and I think there is good demand,” he said.
Mr Schoen said the demand for land also made it an opportune time for those who were considering exiting the industry to sell.