Size: 3033ha
Location: Kingstown, NSW
Sale method: EOI closing 12pm (AEDT) on January 23, 2025
Price guide: Offers over $16 million
A commercial-scale cattle and sheep grazing property in the Northern Tablelands of NSW is expected to attract offers of more than $16 million.
The 3033ha ‘Romani’ also has potential for carbon offsets and renewable energy projects.
Located near Kingstown, halfway between Armidale and Tamworth, Will and Harriet Corlis have run about 5,000 Dorper ewes on an eight-month breeding cycle, along with a beef breeding and finishing enterprise.
More than 42 per cent of ‘Romani’s’ undulating land is arable, with a grazing capacity of about 16,000 DSE.
Mr Corlis said they were attracted to the property because of its 3km frontage to the Namoi/MacDonald River.
“We were looking for a property with a reliable water source, development potential and scale to support the family operation,” Mr Corlis said.
“When we bought Romani, we wanted to take climate variability out of the equation to manage our drought risk, so we added in a large water storage and distribution system, a 1,400-tonne silo complex and containment yards.
“Through 2018 to 2020 we ran more livestock in containment yards than we are today and were able to support them as a result of the investment in water infrastructure and from grain sourced from our own cropping property at Moree.”
The family have made significant improvements to infrastructure at the property including almost 48km of new fencing and 13.3km of electric fencing, supported by an extensive laneway system.
“We’ve done quite a bit of work here and broken the backbone for someone to come in and tidy up the rest,” Mr Corlis said.
“There’s also potential for a new buyer to invest in infrastructure for other endeavours.
“We have had an evaluation completed by the Carbon Farming Foundation, and they said it’s some of the highest yielding carbon land they have ever seen.”
Mrs Corlis said they intended ‘Romani’ to be their forever home but a recent purchase at Ebor saw them alter their plans.
“Until we bought the block at Ebor, this was going to be our forever home,” Mrs Corlis said.
“We completely renovated the homestead, using high-quality materials and finishes and leveraged the consistent water supply by making the garden a beautiful green oasis.
“We really wanted the house and garden to feel like a retreat so we could leave the day’s work behind.”
As well as the New England homestead, ‘Romani’ includes a manager’s residence and staff quarters along with sheep yards, cattle yards, a shearing shed, workshop, machinery shed, grain storage and other rural shedding.
In addition to its river frontage, ‘Romani’ benefits from three semi-permanent creeks, several spring fed water holes, and 47 dams. An extensive reticulated water system services about 33 troughs and tanks allow for 720,000L of water storage.
‘Romani’ ranges from undulating arable land, through to timbered grazing and timbered hills with 859ha benefitting from pasture development and featuring improved temperate grasses, multi-species cover crops, self-sown annual rye grass and native grasses.
An additional 597ha has been approved by the Local Land Services of New South Wales to clear invasive species. The adjoining 4,365ha Bald Rock Aggregation, consisting of timbered land with a Conservation Agreement in place, is also for sale.
LAWD Sales Director Michael Corcoran said the collective benefit of Romani’s scale, its stunning renovated homestead and potential for carbon and renewable energy projects, made it an attractive opportunity to present to market.
“We are expecting Romani will attract a variety of interested parties from carbon and renewable energy developers through to corporate grazing operators,” Mr Corcoran said.
“Its convenient location to the major regional centres of Armidale and Tamworth also makes the property appealing to family cattle and sheep graziers looking to expand in the region.”
A six-farm aggregation in South Australia’s Limestone Coast region has sold to one of the state’s premier beef farming families.
The price paid for the Fairview Aggregation remains undisclosed but when it was initially listed for sale in August 2023, it was expected to sell for more than $65 million.
Colliers National Director, Transaction Services/Agribusiness, Jesse Manuel, could not be drawn on who the purchaser was, but according to local sources the Ogilvie Group has added the 4,360ha property to its portfolio.
Mr Manuel said the aggregation offered scale, versatility, reliable rainfall and extensive improvements.
“Fairview is one of the largest grazing properties in the Lucindale district and one of its key features was its excellent balance of country types, including productive heavy flats and warmer hills country,” he said.
“Parties were attracted to the scale of the opportunity and the ability to produce cattle, sheep and do some cropping and irrigation.”
Improvements on Fairview Aggregation included four houses, three shearing sheds, extensive hay and grain storage, multiple sheep and cattle yards, horse stables, workshops and implement sheds.
Mr Manuel noted that while there had been a great deal of interest in the six parcels individually, the vendors had sought to sell the property as a whole and he was pleased to achieve that goal.
He said Hilltop Farm, on the Fleurieu Peninsula, had also sold at auction for $6.4 million.
Located between Sellicks Beach and Hindmarsh Tiers, ‘Hilltop Farm’ comprises\ 335ha spread across nine separate titles, with abundant surface water, cattle yards and quality fencing.
Size: 374ha
Location: Tallangatta Valley, VIC
Sale method: EOI
Sale price: N/A
A prime, three-farm aggregation in the highly sought Tallangatta Valley has sold following an expression of interest campaign.
Elders agents Henry Mackinnon and Nick Myer sold the 374ha ‘Glenavey Aggregation’, at 863 Tallangatta Creek Rd, following solid interest in the mixed-farming enterprise.
Improvements included hay and machinery shedding, steel cattle yards with Arrowquip crush, accommodation and sundry shedding and 19 strategically subdivided paddocks.
Abundant natural water supply included multiple catchment dams, 3km of dual Tallangatta Creek frontage, 29ML irrigation entitlement and a strategic trough network.
Mr Mackinnon said it was pleasing to sell the aggregation - made up of ‘Part Moorabinda’ (80ha), ‘Colynda Vale’ (40ha) and ‘Glenavey’ (254ha) - as a whole.
“It was bought by a semi-local producer,” he said.
“The interest was fairly strong throughout the campaign, just given where it is, it’s quite rare for assets of that scale to be presented to market in the Tallangatta Valley, so it was met with good demand.”
Mr Mackinnon said in the current market turnkey properties with good infrastructure, such as the ‘Glenavey Aggregation’, attracted solid buyer interest.
Buyers searching for water views are commonly associated with city residential real estate, but it seems those heading to regional and rural areas desire similar.
According to Domain’s End of Year Wrap for 2024, the terms ‘waterfront’, ‘river’, ‘water view’, ‘water’ and ‘creek’ were among the top 10 keyword searches for regional buyers.
Domain Chief of Research and Economics, Dr Nicola Powell, said this indicated a strong desire for properties with scenic and natural surroundings.
“‘Pool’ has been knocked off the top spot this year, now ranking second, indicating a shift in buyer priorities in favour of other features like views and lifestyle-focused homes,” she said.
The year’s most viewed listing was also in the rural town of Cockatoo, 48km south-east of Melbourne.
It might need a lot of work but 650 Woori Yallock Rd also offers a lot of opportunity on its 5.2ha block.
Other notable regional trends included Curra, in Queensland, ranking as the least expensive regional suburb at $56sq m, followed by Coober Pedy, in South Australia, at $66sq m, while another Queensland town, Glenwood, came in third at $78sq m.
The most expensive regional suburb was Surfers Paradise at $4,484sq m.
Deeragun, in Queensland, had the fastest sales, with a median 14 days on market, while Mayfield West, NSW, had the highest regional clearance rate at 94.4%, followed by Nuriootpa, in South Australia, at 93.8%.
Size: 706ha
Location: Coonamble, NSW
Sale method: Auction
A rare chance to secure a prime rural holding has emerged with the upcoming online AuctionsPlus auction of ‘Warrena Stud Block’, located just 4km east of Coonamble.
Spanning 706ha (1,743 acres), the property combines rich grazing land, heavy soils, and lighter ridges, all complemented by scenic timbered areas featuring box gum and wilga trees.
Warrena Stud Block boasts an older homestead, steel cattle yards, a reliable bore, four dams, and sealed road frontage, adding to its appeal for prospective buyers, seeking rich, open grazing country.
Halcroft and Bennett Director David Thompson said the property had been held in the same family for more than 50 years.
“Opportunities to purchase small holdings close to town, with sealed road frontage, are very rare,” he said.
The property will be auctioned online through AuctionsPlus on Saturday, December 16th, at 10am (AEDT).
Kylie Dulhunty is a journalist with more than 20 years experience covering everything from court to health. Today, Kylie loves nothing more than turning market trends, industry insights and epic property sales - residential, rural and commercial into captivating stories.