Supply aplenty in Mildura's rural market: HTW

In Mildura there have been few recent substantial sales to report on, however there are a number of large properties currently being marketed according to the latest report from Herron Todd White (HTW).

The valuation firm stated that the result of these will have to be closely watched to see the mood of buyers and whether any of the recent Federal government changes affecting foreign buyers have had any effect.

The Adveq Almond portfolio, which comprises 12,000 hectares of almond trees, originally developed by Timbercorp under a Managed Investment Scheme structure between 2001 and 2007, is being offered for sale.

"The scale of this portfolio is impressive and we expect that a number of institutional buyers will show interest," stated the report.

The agent’s comments suggest the current owners are hopeful of achieving a sale price above $300 million.

A second 'property of note' is a 1,200 hectare horticultural greenfield site at Trentham Cliffs, just to the east of Mildura.

The report noted that, this land is well suited to a variety of tree crops and is expected to receive strong interest, given the shrinking supply of available development land.

The substantial increase in rural values throughout north western Victoria over the past two to three years has seen unwelcome repercussions on council rating valuations, with many farmers reporting their local government rates have increased by up to 40% in recent years.

The fact that farm land values have appreciated to a much higher degree than all other property types is, however, hard to dispute.

The report concluded that farming lobby groups are currently working hard to change the mechanism for how rates are set.