Cash crop as boomers buy up boutique farms: [1 All-round Country Edition]
Stapleton, John. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 07 Aug 2007: 4.
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"There's everything you could possibly want here," Mr [Ian Mack] said, adding that it was only an hour away from a major airport near Newcastle.
On the other side of the country, Elders agent in Western Australia Phil Melville said his state's increasing number of high net worth individuals meant traditional farms within a 120km radius of Perth were all being snapped up. "They are buying for lifestyle, they don't have a need to derive an income," he said.
"A lot of people are looking to take their children out of the city, to get a bit of humility and reality back into their lives," he said. "The land is the backbone of this country, and Australians are gravitating back to their heritage."
THE boom in prestige city properties is expected to spread to boutique farms, fuelled by cashed-up baby boomers seeking a rural change.
With the average age of traditional farmers now over 60, and their children showing little interest in the hard life of the land, many unique properties are about to come up for sale for the first time in generations.
While some farmers are using the recent rains to get back on track financially, others are using their green pastures to lure city buyers.
Agents say the demand is being underpinned by boomers seeking a "tree change", but they also report a significant number of younger business people looking for an escape from their busy city lifestyle.
Ian Mack, 46, is reluctantly selling his property, set on the lush, tranquil floodplains of the NSW Hunter, because he does not feel he can concentrate on its successful hay-making operations and on his other business interests at the same time.
The 20ha property is located near the old inland port of Morpeth - - the furthest inland ships could navigate the tidal river -- where the town's old warehouses have been transformed into fashionable restaurants and coffee shops.
"There's everything you could possibly want here," Mr Mack said, adding that it was only an hour away from a major airport near Newcastle.
On the other side of the country, Elders agent in Western Australia Phil Melville said his state's increasing number of high net worth individuals meant traditional farms within a 120km radius of Perth were all being snapped up. "They are buying for lifestyle, they don't have a need to derive an income," he said.
"The properties have to be aesthetically pleasing -- parkland cleared with creeks or waterways. A lot can afford to pay top dollar and build a substantial new residence as well."
Mr Mack's agent, director of the Australian Wool Network Property brokerage Neville Rava, said baby boomers cashed up with superannuation were fulfilling a desire deep-seated in the Australian psyche to own their own farm.
"An ageing farming population and high demand means we are expecting a significant number of million-dollar-plus properties to come on the market in spring. Some of these have some very beautiful country and have been held by established rural families for generations. The old farmers often sell very reluctantly."
Rural property expert David Nolan said there was strong interest in million-dollar-plus lifestyle properties; and as other Australian cities also boomed, much of the demand was now starting to come from outside Sydney.
"A lot of people are looking to take their children out of the city, to get a bit of humility and reality back into their lives," he said. "The land is the backbone of this country, and Australians are gravitating back to their heritage."
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