Mount Fyans farm near Mortlake could fetch close to A$100m

Why it matters

The ABC reports that the current Victorian farm price benchmark is the A$70 million the McBride family paid in 2018 for the 46,677-hectare Telopea Downs, a low-rainfall holding. Mount Fyans would exceed that on a much smaller footprint if it sold near A$100 million. The ABC describes it as high-rainfall livestock and cropping country.

The ABC says the property can run up to 100,000 dry sheep equivalent. It lists a nine-bedroom bluestone homestead built in the 1880s, four staff residences, shearers’ quarters, several livestock yards, extra sheds and grain storage above 9,000 tonnes. The selling agent said the vendors have invested in fencing and water and converted the shearing shed from four stands to 14.

The numbers

The ABC says the listing opened this week and that buyers are talking about a price near A$100 million. It put that figure to the agent as A$13,254 a hectare. The agent said he hoped for more for the vendors’ sake but expects less than A$100 million.

For context, the ABC cites Bendigo Bank’s latest farmland values report, which has the south-west Victoria median farmland price falling 7.8 per cent last year to A$16,968 a hectare, after peaking in 2022. The agent told the ABC prices may be 20 to 25 per cent off the peak.

The ABC reports the vendors, Riverina wool producers, paid A$37 million for Mount Fyans in 2018 and have since expanded it from 5,900 hectares to its current size. The ABC adds that neighbouring blocks worth a further 5,000 hectares are listed too, and it estimates the combined package at over A$150 million.

The Elders Real Estate agent handling the sale told the ABC it is the largest holding he has been involved in, and the largest offered in south-west Victoria “by a long shot”. He also said it is probably the cheapest dry sheep equivalent country buyers will find in Australia.

What’s next

The ABC’s report does not name a buyer or give a sale date, and no price has been confirmed.

According to the ABC, the same vendors have a second listing, a 4,805-hectare livestock farm near Wagga Wagga, to the east. For another recent rural sale story, see the Chudleigh homestead estate sale in Tasmania.

Source: ABC News.