Positive market reaction to historic property

Positive market reaction to historic South Canterbury property

The market response to a South Canterbury farm that sold recently shows there are some positives in otherwise trying times for rural property, say the agents who made the sale.

Canterbury manager of PGG Wrightson Real Estate Peter Crean oversaw the sale of historic Hakataramea Valley property Viewfield, which sold via a deadline sale process late last month.

“Viewfield is an exceptional farm that drew a high level of enquiry from throughout New Zealand and overseas before its sale to a local farming family.

“We consider the property to be well sold, particularly in the current challenging economic environment. This suggests that buyers are out there, even though overall the sale of rural properties is very challenging. The vendors of this property made it clear that they would listen to the market and were pleasantly surprised with the result.

“You could describe the market at present as fitful. While some good sales are being made promptly, such as this one, these tend to be limited to well-presented farms that have some scale and can demonstrate a solid history of production,” he said.

Sold by the locally well-known McCaw family, who have farmed in the Hakataramea Valley since 1893, Viewfield is a 925 hectare mixed use farm situated 14 kilometres north east of Kurow and 80 kilometres north west of Oamaru.

Peter Crean sold the property in conjunction with his PGG Wrightson Real Estate colleagues Laurie Farmer and Robin Ford.

Peter Crean says potential buyers are coming back into the market looking for good quality farms.

“We have had increasing enquiry lately, particularly from a number of cashed up buyers who sold farms before the credit crunch and now seek to re-purchase. They are in a strong position, are looking for farms with quite specific characteristics and are prepared to wait until the right property becomes available at a price to suit their circumstances. At present, however, listings matching this description are in short supply,” he said.

ENDS

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