Just as city buyers are looking to escape to the country - cashed up farmers are heading the other way.
Farmers have been flying into Sydney for weekend auctions looking to buy "a bolthole" in the city, a prominent buyer's agent has revealed.
"It is unbelievable how many country people are wanting to buy apartments," Tina Clark, a director with Morish and Clark, said.
Ms Clark said many farmers were looking to diversify their property assets away from their farm land after a run of good seasons.
"They have been buying more land, and more land, and now some say they have enough and want to invest in city real estate."
One of the surprise developments of the pandemic across Australia is the ongoing move from cities to country as people have sought a better lifestyle.
Surveys from the Regional Australia Institute have shown one-in-five city residents are looking to move to the regions, with more than half wanting to make the jump within the next year.
Many times it is only the lack of available properties which has stymied their plans.
But now there is another property sale development on the rise, not as a result of COVID-19, but the boom times in agriculture.
It is not just the bumper harvests and record livestock prices but also the jump in rural land values which has seen farm equity rising at record rates.
Not all are scared off by rising interest rates, which as most agents point out are still at historical lows.
Ms Clark said some farmers are looking to invest in city real estate to diversify their assets away from a reliance on agriculture.
"They also want a place they can use, not just to rent it out, but a bolthole in the city."
She said they may want to be closer to children at universities, or have family members with medical needs, but most just want a weekender.
These farmers come to her with specific requirements as well.
They are looking for apartments with two to three bedrooms, in a $1.3 million- to $2.5 million price range, not "too far" from the CBD, and preferably with some sort of view.
She said her country clients were also keen on having access to parking.
They were not fussed about a full kitchen, she said.
"When they come down they don't want to cook but go out," she said.
Ms Clark, born and raised in the country herself, said farmers often specified the property had to be light and airy.
"They really don't want anything pokey and dark."
As a buyer's agent, Ms Clark acts on behalf of those farmers to strike a good deal on those apartments, many of which are unlisted.
"They don't have much experience with city property, that's where we come in," she said.
Ms Clark can be contacted on 0407 703005.
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Chris McLennan
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
ACM national rural property writer based in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria. Career journalist. Multi award winner.
