M:
The Big Picture
H2/25
Rural
New South Wales
Water Availability
Bushfire Risk
Rainfall
Carbon Pricing
Farming Performance
Rural Commodities
Rural Commodities
Rural Commodities
Canola
Rural Commodities
Rural Property Sales
Rural Property Sales
Rural NSW broadacre farmland transactions tallied 153 sales in 2024, an upward trajectory of 33% from the previous year and similar to the volume recorded in 2022 However, this volume was 58% below five years earlier and 26% lower than 20 years ago. This lower number of total listings came at a time when the property market and business were anticipating a considerable reduction in interest rates with significant uncertainty in the global outlook As a benchmark, over the past five years, the annual average was 181 rural property sales, whilst the annual average since 2004 has been 245 sales
Share of National Rural Property Sales
The Rural NSW share in the total number of national rural sales was 7.2% in 2024. This share of sales was higher than one year ago when the proportion was 4 9%, remains below 9.1% recorded five years ago, but was higher than the 4.0% share back in 2004 Over the past year, Rural NSW (+33%) performed better than Rural Australia (-10%) in the annual growth of sales volume activity
Rural Property Sales, by annual number Rural NSW
Rural NSW, 2024
from 20 years ago
Share of National Rural Property Sales, by Number, 2024 Rural NSW
Rural Property Sales Update
Major Regions
Rural Property Sales
Overall in Rural NSW, the total broadacre farmland sales in 2019 outpaced the number recorded in 2024 Across the five major regions in Rural NSW, the Riverina recorded the highest number of broadacre farmland sales in 2024 with 44 transactions This was followed by Central West (30), Coastal (27) then Tablelands (25) and North West Slopes and Plains (25) When considering the distribution of the broadacre farmland transactions back in 2019, across the same regions, the highest ranking was the Tablelands with a considerable led of 114 sales Coastal ranked next highest with 101 sales, followed by Central West (59), the Riverina (58) then North West Slopes and Plains (33)
Zoning
Rural Property Sales
The Wheat-Sheep rural zone made up the largest proportion of broadacre farmland sales across Rural Australia with 54% in 2024 (1,160 sales). The rural zones of High Rainfall with 896 sales (42%) and Pastoral with 74 sales (3%) made up the remainder. Back in 2019, the number of sales in the High Rainfall zoning led the tally (49%), followed by Wheat-Sheep (48%) The 3% share of Pastoral zoned sales, within the total, remained unchanged between the five years
Rural Property Sales, by Major Regions
Rural NSW
Rural Australia Zones, 2024
from five years ago
Share of Rural Property Sales, by Zones
Rural Australia
Rural Property Prices
Average Rural Property Price $9,547/ha
Rural property prices across NSW fell by 24 4% in 2024 to average $9,547 per hectare This is a sharp correction in broadacre farmland prices after significant growth recorded during the pandemic This resulted from poor seasonal conditions in 2023, falling livestock prices, high interest rates, household cost of living pressures and overarching persistent global economic uncertainty. Looking back, prices have grown by 184% since 2004 with a steep growth curve between 2019 and 2023, with 43 9% growth being since 2019 Broadacre farmland prices have annually averaged 9 2% growth over the past five years across Rural NSW Looking forward, based on projected levels of production, commodity prices and the cost of finance, Rabobank are forecasting land value growth of 3% in 2025 as the base case outlook across Australia
Change in Average Rural Property Prices
Rural NSW, per hectare
Major Regions Rural Property Prices
In Rural NSW, the overall average price in 2024 overtook the price recorded in 2019 The Riverina recorded the highest broadacre farmland average price across the five major regions in Rural NSW with $13,949 per hectare in 2024 Coastal ($11,257/ha) followed, then Tablelands ($10,451/ha), Central West ($8,193/ha) and North West Slopes and Plains ($4,006/ha) When benchmarked against 2019, it was the Coastal region with the highest average at $9,898/ha, then Tablelands ($7,369/ha), the Riverina ($6,784/ha), North West Slopes and Plains ($4,453/ha) and Central West ($3,493/ha).
Average Rural Property Prices, by Major Regions
Rural NSW, per hectare
Rural Property Prices Update
Zoning Rural Property Prices
Broadacre farmlands within the High Rainfall rural zone continued to achieve the highest average rural price at $13,014 per hectare in 2024, being 65% above five years ago Rural properties in the Wheat-Sheep zone averaged $8,073/ha in 2024, recording the highest growth in the past year (+6%) and over the past five years (+73%). Pastoral zoned properties at an average $1,118/ha in 2024, were 53% lower in price than a year ago but 46% higher priced than back in 2019
Average Rural Property Prices, by Rural Zones Rural Australia
Land Use Rural Property Prices & Sales
Across Rural Australia, the annual sales transactions for 2024 and average price shows wide variation by land use type Broadacre farmlands specialising in Beef recorded the greatest number with 753 sales, followed by Cropping (480), Dairy (147), Orchard (136), Sugarcane (105),Vineyard (73) and Forestry (39) Vineyards averaged the highest price per rural property with $41,551 per hectare, then Orchard ($39,560/ha), Dairy ($24,822/ha), Sugarcane ($20,904/ha), Forestry ($9,667/ha), Beef ($9,401/ha) and Cropping ($8,309/ha).
Average Rural Property Prices & Annual Rural Property Sales, by Land Use Rural Australia
Rural Australia Zones, 2024
Rural New South Wales
Rural New South Wales (Rural NSW) refers to the area outside of ‘Greater Sydney’ or is the ‘Rest of State’ for NSW as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which are properties most suitable for agricultural purposes
Gross Value of Production
Gross value of production (GVP) refers to the total value of products produced on farms, measured at farmgate prices. That is, the prices received by producers before any processing, transport, or retail markups
ABARES
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES), is the science and economics research division of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Hectares
All land area measurements in this report are expressed in hectares (ha) unless otherwise stated. One hectare equals 10,000 square metres, or approximately 2 47 acres
Currency
All monetary values in this report are expressed in Australian dollars (AUD) unless otherwise stated.
Guiding
Michelle Ciesielski Head of Research, McGrath Research
www.mcgrath.com.au/research
