M:
The Big Picture
H2/25
Rural Victoria
Water Availability
Bushfire Risk
Rainfall
Carbon Pricing
Farming Performance
Rural Commodities
Rural Commodities
Rural Commodities
Canola
Rural Commodities
Rural Property Sales Update
Rural Property Sales +11%
Rural Victoria broadacre farmland transactions tallied 675 sales in 2024, an upward trajectory of 11% from the previous year, which was the lowest number recorded since the data series commenced back in 1992 This volume was 52% below five years earlier and 42% lower than 20 years ago. This came at a time with much uncertainty in the global and Australian economy with many anticipating a considerable reduction in interest rates As a benchmark, over the past five years, the annual average was 1,116 rural property sales, whilst the annual 1,327 sales average has been held since 2004
Share of National Rural Property Sales
The Rural Victoria share in the total number of national rural sales was 31.7% in 2024. This share of sales was higher than one year ago when the proportion was 25 6%, remains below 35.0% recorded five years ago, but was higher than the 22 7% share back in 2004 Over the past year, Rural Victoria (+11%) performed better than Rural Australia (-10%) in the annual growth of sales volume activity
Rural Property Sales, by annual number
Rural Victoria
31.7%
Share of National Rural Property Sales, by Number, 2024
Rural Victoria
Rural Victoria, 2024
Number of rural properties sold in past year
from a year ago
from 5 years ago
from 20 years ago
Rural Property Sales Update
Major Regions
Rural Property Sales
Overall in Rural Victoria, the total broadacre farmland sales in 2019 outpaced the number recorded in 2024 Across the four major regions in Rural Victoria, the Southern and Eastern region recorded the highest number of broadacre farmland sales in 2024 with 341 transactions This was followed by Central North (180), Wimmera (103) then Mallee (51) When considering broadacre farmland transactions back in 2019, the distribution ranking order remained the same across the regions, led by Southern and Eastern Victoria with 808 sales Central North followed with 346 sales, then Wimmera (157) and Mallee (105).
Rural Property Sales, by Major Regions
Rural Victoria
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
Share of Rural Property Sales, by Zones
Rural Australia
Rural Australia Zones, 2024
Average Rural Property Price
$12,084/ha
Rural property prices across Victoria fell by 1 7% in 2024 to average $12,084 per hectare This was driven by unfavourable seasonal conditions in 2023, declining livestock prices, elevated interest rates, increased household costs and ongoing global economic uncertainty. Looking back, prices have grown by 354% since 2004 with a steep growth curve between 2020 and 2022 during the midst of the pandemic, with 83 5% growth being since 2019 Broadacre farmland prices have annually averaged 13 8% growth over the past five years across Rural Victoria 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 Victoria, per hectare
Major Regions Rural Property Prices
In Rural Victoria, the overall average price in 2024 overtook the price recorded in 2019 The Southern and Eastern region recorded the highest broadacre farmland average price across the four major regions in Rural Victoria with $14,549 per hectare in 2024 Central North ($11,398/ha) followed, then the Wimmera ($10,188/ha) and Mallee ($5,767/ha) regions When benchmarked against 2019, the regions followed a similar ranked order with the Southern and Eastern region in the lead at $8,445/ha, then Central North ($5,789/ha), Wimmera ($4,567/ha) and Mallee ($2,364/ha).
Average Rural Property Prices, by Major Regions
Rural Victoria, 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 Victoria
Rural Victoria refers to the area outside of ‘Greater Melbourne’ or is the ‘Rest of State’ for Victoria 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 you home
Michelle Ciesielski Head of Research, McGrath Research
www.mcgrath.com.au/research
