Michelle Daw, Yorke Peninsula Country Times
A single 107-hectare paddock in prime cropping land near Maitland sold for $4.75 million last week, setting what is likely to be a record price for Yorke Peninsula.
The price achieved for Lot 210, Pine Point Road at an online auction on Monday, September 9, equates to $44,393 per hectare, or $17,992 per acre.
Selling agent Len Easther of Elders Real Estate YP said a local grain grower bought the property, after competing with four other local growers who put in bids over $4m.
“We knew it was always going to break the YP records because of its location, soil type and rainfall,” he said.
“If you look at sales around the Ardrossan to Maitland district, it certainly broke all records for that.
“In the past four years, we have probably had four sales that have been above $14,700/ac.”
Mr Easther said the single title property had reliable rainfall in the range of 508-546 millimetres a year, with easy working red/brown loamy soil with fine lime and was flat to undulating.
Other benefits were the sealed road frontage, new fencing and mains water and its convenient location, which was only four kilometres away from the Mait – land grain terminal and 18 kilometres from the Ardrossan silos.
“The fact it’s in the Yorke Valley, and not on the lower side that’s susceptible to frost, also added to it,” Mr Easther said.
Prices ‘may have peaked’
Mr Easther said the size of the paddock had also made it a keenly sought offering.
“Being a relatively small rural parcel, it allowed your medium range farmer to come in and purchase it, rather than the big blocks they can’t afford,” he said.
Mr Easther said the paddock had been in the Bridgeman family for three generations and had been a portion of the family’s estate.
He said prices for cropping land on YP may have reached their peak, as interest rates had risen from 2.5 per cent three years ago to close to six per cent now.
People considering buying more land would have to pay higher interest rates on the land and any extra machinery they may need to purchase, on top of existing loans.
However, he said there was still plenty of demand for blue chip properties in the “golden strip” between Arthurton and Minlaton and that rural properties would hold their value.
“If you look at property prices on YP, they rise, then they level out, rise again, and now they are starting to level again, but they always head in the right direction,” Mr Easther said.
Figures from Rural Bank show that in 2022, 30 farming properties on YP sold for a median price of $8,512ha, representing compound annual growth rates of 8.9 per cent over five years.
This article appeared in Yorke Peninsula Country Times, 17 September 2024.
