The drought is barely affecting Wagga’s rural property values and demand is high with little supply on the market, according to a local rural agent.
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A quick search on the internet found only one Wagga rural property on the market for $1.98 million at 43 kilometres from the city.
Landmark Harcourts Wagga agent Sally Douglas said strong agriculture and commodity prices demonstrate that Riverina rural values are holding up well amid drought conditions.
“Most people are fairly buoyant and are holding their property and looking to expand, with the drought not affecting the market at the moment,” Ms Douglas said.
“Last year was not the best year, but in recent years farmers are enjoying strong commodity prices and livestock has been strong.
“The drought is not a major issue in the Riverina, it’s seasonal and we’re nowhere near as bad as the drought conditions in Western NSW.”
The NSW Department of Primary Industries report that was released last month found that drought conditions are likely to remain at current levels or intensify across NSW, particularly in the west.
However, Ms Douglas said demand is strong in this region because of the limited supply of properties on the market.
“It’s a good time to sell because people are looking to buy and the greater Wagga region does not have a lot of properties on the market,” she said.
“In today’s Rural, there’s my advertisement looking for more properties, and then other agents advertising from further afield, like West Wyalong, and Coleambally; from this perspective, there’s only one other listing in Coolamon.
“There is demand due to less supply on the market and agriculture is in a good place, therefore the rural values are holding up.”
Landmark livestock agent Peter Cabot said there have been some “extraordinarily high” commodity prices for sheep and cattle over the past 18 months.
“Over this period, property prices have been strong and up until this extended dry period in the Riverina, prices have been at record heights for sheep, lambs and cattle,” Mr Cabot said.
“It’s not the case quite at the moment, the market has probably slipped about 30 per cent in the last few weeks but over the 18 months we’ve had very strong commodity prices for sheep and cattle.”