The rural property market in South East Queensland (SEQ) has steadied following the strong growth experienced in recent years. While demand for premium-quality rural properties remains firm, overall market conditions have normalised, with longer selling periods now evident.
Selling agents report that steady buyer demand continues, however, the frenzied FOMO attitude has now calmed. With interest rates returning to more historical norms, affordability and cash flow considerations are more relevant to purchasing decisions. As such, vendor expectations can sometimes be unrealistic.
The Rise of Rural Lifestyle Buyers
The fast-growing SEQ population has led to a growing influence of rural lifestyles in regional areas. From the east, steady demand continues from Brisbane and Gold Coast buyers wanting either a ‘tree change’ or ‘weekender’ block. From the west, well-capitalised retiring graziers are seeking to relocate closer to metropolitan centres, and southern buyers from Northern NSW to Victoria are seeking a Queensland lifestyle change - in some cases, seeking greater affordability.
The strong growth in the SEQ rural lifestyle market has resulted in increased competition for local farmers seeking to expand, while in some areas, it has helped to underpin the local rural property sector, where local growers have shelved expansion plans due to challenging operating conditions for their existing operations.
Expanding the Rural Lifestyle Belt
The traditional ‘lifestyle belt’ – which historically spanned 10 to 30 km from larger townships - has expanded further, with buyers now willing to commute greater distances. Many purchasers are retirees, remote workers or fly-in-fly-out (FIFO) employees who don’t need to be within commuting distance of the major centres. Improved phone and internet coverage in regional areas has made regional living a viable option for an increasing number of people.
A growing trend is emerging for lifestyle properties within close proximity to smaller, quieter townships with populations under 10,000, whilst still being within one to two hours of a larger regional centre, such as Toowoomba, which offers higher-level amenities, including medical facilities.
Changing Nature of Lifestyle Properties
The nature of a lifestyle property has also changed over the last decade, shifting from the traditional five-acre (two-hectare) block to larger-scale grazing enterprises or boutique horticulture enterprises. These properties often have the ability to generate supplementary income while remaining manageable on a casual lifestyle basis. Throughout the Granite Belt region of Stanthorpe, a resurgence of small-scale vineyards and boutique horticulture enterprises has been observed. Many of these new entrant buyers are from Brisbane or the Gold Coast, who, with off-farm income, have the ability to inject capital into these enterprises.
SEQ’s small crop farming and orchard enterprises have faced a challenging period over the last five years, marked by prolonged drought conditions, floods, extensive labour shortages, and soaring input costs. Many of these farmers have either scaled back their operations or left the industry altogether. While sale prices for high-quality farms with secure irrigation water supplies have remained steady, lesser-quality properties have typically been purchased by lifestyle buyers for alternative uses.
Pricing Trends and Market Gaps
Rural lifestyle buyers typically purchase properties based on overall price, rather than per-hectare value. This can lead to distorted price trends when analysed on a per-hectare basis. Lifestyle buyers typically have fixed budget brackets that vary between regions, leading to gaps in the market, particularly for larger-scale yet secondary-quality grazing properties or those lacking aesthetic appeal, such as those affected by high-voltage power lines or non-complementary neighbouring uses. In these instances, sales prices will typically reflect lower $/hectare rates, reflective of the lack of competition from lifestyle buyers.
Notable Recent Sales in the Toowoomba Region
Several significant rural lifestyle property transactions have taken place across the Toowoomba region in recent months, including;
- Woodbury, Spring Creek (58 km south of Toowoomba). Sold at auction for $8.65m ($14,592/ha). A 595 ha mixed timbered grazing and cultivation enterprise with a water licence and a high standard of structural improvements. Purchased by a Northern NSW retiring farmer.
- Balgownie, Felton (45 km south of Toowoomba). Sold for $5,000,000 ($25,220/ha). A 287-ha mixed grazing and farming parcel with a water licence and a high standard of structural improvements.
- Taronga, Irongate (19 km northwest of Pittsworth/50 km from Toowoomba). Sold at auction for $4.3 m ($16,789/ha). A 256-ha mixed cultivation and timbered ridge parcel in 3 titles, with a reasonable standard of improvements. Purchased by a local buyer with strong competition from western graziers.
While the SEQ rural market has steadied, demand from lifestyle buyers continues to underpin the market. As regional infrastructure and connectivity improve, the rural lifestyle market is expected to remain a key driver of property demand in the region.