City demand for lifestyle blocks in the country "is going crazy", according to a NSW real estate agent desperate for more to sell.
A Sydney buyer had just forked out $565,000 for a hilly 131 hectare (323 acre) bush block with a rundown farmhouse.
An amazed Hamish Firth has just taken on the Ray White agency at Scone, in the Hunter region of NSW, and says "I wish I had 10 of them".
Consider the response when the block at Stewarts Brook was listed.
Remembering this is considered a farmlet at best, but is really a "get away from it all" type of hilly block, almost an hour to the east of Scone.
Mr Firth fielded 50 emailed inquiries in the first two days.
The online listing had almost 50,000 looks, or engagements.
Most of that inquiry came from Newcastle, the NSW central coast and Sydney, which is about four hours to the south.
Mr Firth admitted it wasn't much to look at and it's not all fenced but it was a "great lifestyle block to get away from the rest of the world".
And it had "that" creek, which seemed to draw the city buyers in.
Because of the remoteness, Mr Firth agreed to take this Sydney party through the property on Easter Monday "to help them out".
That same party fought some other interested buyers and ended up paying above the asking price for it.
"I couldn't believe the number of people that had that finances ready to go for a lifestyle block," he said.
"I wish I had 10 of them, they would all go in the first week."
Let's have a closer look at the Stewarts Brook block which caused such a stir.
"Old Castle" is listed as a rural retreat - with that creek.
It has an original four-bedroom farm house with a slow combustion fireplace.
The kitchen is not modern but has lots of space with a huge pantry.
The house was sold partially furnished.
Mobile phone and even satellite TV receptions are a bit patchy.
A solar system supplies power throughout the house which also has a small wind generator.
There are two large rainwater tanks, four dams and an average 900mm annual rainfall.
As the pictures show, the property has some rolling hillside with semi cleared areas to more steep hillside areas that are more heavily treed.
Access is along narrow tracks.
Then there's the creek which won over the buyers - Stewarts Brook Creek.
Ah, the serenity.
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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.
