2023: A record breaking year

This damning legislative change was first revealed by Farm Weekly, before it hit the mainstream media and generated much community uproar.

As more agricultural and mining industry stakeholders exerted pressure on the State Government to repeal the act, it was finally shut down.

The act had initially been mooted in response to what many in the Western Australian community agreed was a lack of care for and destruction of aboriginal cultural heritage, most notably the disturbance of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters by Rio Tinto.

But it had wide-reaching consequences for WA's broadacre, pastoral, viticultural and horticultural sectors - in fact, the act was going to apply to all landholdings of more than 1100 square metres.

The WA government was planning to set up Local Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Service (LACHS) groups across the State to consult with during due diligence processes and ensure any ground disturbance would not potentially damage Aboriginal cultural heritage.

If there was no LACHS group in an area, the property owner would have been forced to liaise with each native title party or knowledge holder in that area.

The new act was to come into effect on July 1 this year.

At the end of the day, it was decided this system was unwieldy and would stymie agricultural and mining production.

Real Estate Institute of WA (REIWA) chief executive officer Cath Hart said repealing the act would give residential and rural property owners the confidence to develop their property, whether to renovate, extend or subdivide, or add a dam or fences without fear of committing an offence by unknowingly disrupting Aboriginal cultural heritage.

"They won't need to check if their planned actions are exempt or be required to conduct their own heritage surveys," Ms Hart said.

"The Government's repeal and amendments to the 1972 Act are a common sense solution for all parties."

REIWA rural spokesman Mark Murray said 2023 had thrown up several other major challenges for the broadacre, lifestyle, residential, regional and rural property markets.

He said livestock prices - for both sheep and cattle - had progressively fallen during the year, fertiliser prices had continued to rise and interest rates had maintained an upwards trajectory.

"Despite this, the rural and regional real estate market has held its ground," Mr Murray said.

"Prices continued to remain strong and buoyant."

Mr Murray said the main market fundamental factor that had driven higher prices across the year was a lack of supply of properties that came on to the market.

He said another significant factor was a good understanding of the WA agricultural landscape by farmers and corporate entities and how land values would hold in coming years.

Mr Murray said the outlook for farm land in 2024 was the same, with supply and demand the single-biggest factor at play.

But he said he believed the lifestyle/smaller block market had peaked and would continue to plateau.

"Interest rate rises have more of an effect in this sector," he said.

"I am seeing this play out in my region in the South West."

Prices for some of the more prominent land sales during 2023 remain undisclosed.

But there were some strong spring sales, including farmer-to-farmer transactions and those to forestry, carbon and renewable energy companies.

Nutrien Harcourts experienced a record breaking year according to real estate manager - west, Jon Bahen.

Mr Bahen noted the sale of some prime long-term family enterprises featured highly in the journey through 2023.

"Nutrien Harcourts have set a record in the value of real estate transactions for the 2023 calendar year with some prize family enterprises changing hands," Mr Bahen said.

"While land values through the grazing and higher rainfall areas have been steady, it's the broadacre Wheatbelt regions that have continued to attract high levels of interest and resulted in property changing hands at unprecedented land values.

"We have sold several substantial whole family enterprises through the Great Southern, these are farms which have taken generations to develop.

"As an aggregate these farms have hit the market and seen strong interest from both corporate investors and substantial farming families seeking the opportunity to expand locally or relocate, from higher rainfall areas where there has been limited opportunity to expand."

Looking ahead Mr Bahen said the momentum was likely to continue into the new year.

"I can't foresee a great slowdown in land values," Mr Bahen said.

"As we continue to see fresh capital entering the market, be it from the United Kindom and Canadian investment funds or energy corporations seeking opportunity to offset carbon and invest in renewable energy projects.

"New players in the market are competing with very efficient family and corporate farming enterprises sitting on substantial equity freshly topped up with record sales of neighbouring properties.

"All things being equal, and an average season for 2024, we anticipate another record sales result and continued farm prosperity."

Highlights from the traditionally strong selling period in spring included:

Kembah, Jacup, sold by Nutrien Harcourts WA, reportedly fetched $14-15 million.

Warekila, Esperance, Elders Real Estate, was formerly owned by Chris Reichstein and sold for $11.65m.

This was understood to have set a new record high price for per hectare broadacre cropping land in WA.

The result was about $3m - or about 30pc - higher than had been initially thought by stakeholders.

Auction bidding through Elders Real Estate started at $4m and the property was knocked down to local farmers Ian, Jamie and Anthony Hesford, who were vying with 12 other bidders, including six local families who helped to push prices up.

When the hammer fell at $11.65m, this equated to $19,846 per arable hectare - or $8031 per arable acre.

Threebrooks, Bridgetown-Greenbushes, Ray White Rural WA, was understood to have reaped more than $6m and was bought by Gina Rhinehart's Hancock Holdings, through the entity Valley River Holdings.

Kinross, Kojonup-Katanning, Elders Real Estate, sold for $4.4m or $12,828 per arable hectare or $5191 per hectare.

Gray Road, Nyabing, Ray White Rural WA, was understood to have sold for close to the guide price of $3.9m.

Close on the heels of their purchase of prominent New South Wales cropping and grazing spread, Jemalong Station, Canada's Alberta Investment Management Corporation and Sydney-based New Agriculture teamed up again, buying a swag of Kimberley cattle properties through LAWD.

The partnership's new three million hectare Kimberley cattle portfolio in north western WA involves seven leases and five sub-leases operated by the Argyle Cattle Company and Yougawalla Pastoral Company, plus agistment country.

With the exception of Argyle's Shamrock Station, which is also developing a 1242ha centre pivot irrigation area, the combined large-scale beef business is based around Halls Creek.

It was bought after being offered for public tender by a key Chinese-backed investor, Archstone Investment Group.

The AIMCo-New Agriculture partnership is best known as the owner and manager of the huge Lawson Grains portfolio of properties spread from Moree in northern New South Wales to Esperance and Wongan Hills in WA, bought for about $550m early last year from Macquarie Bank.

Lawson Grains has since grown to 11 expanding aggregations, having paid $35m for Green Park in southern NSW early this year and about $85m for the Lachlan Valley's 13,500ha Jemalong Station in August.

Jemalong was previously the prized possession of the Kahlbetzer family's Twynam Agriculture, bought by Dutch investment group Optifarm in 2018.

The Kimberley cattle breeding and backgrounding portfolio purchase will be AIMCo's first investment in the pastoral industry, although the deal is subject to Federal and WA government regulatory approvals.

Staying in the north of the State, Elders Real Estate representative Greg Smith sold Christmas Creek station in the Kimberley during the second half of this year and he will have three stations coming to market in early 2024.

Christmas Creek sold for an undisclosed sum to renowned beef producers Manchee Agriculture in that company's first station purchase in WA.

Elders senior rural real estate executive Simon Cheetham said it had been a year of growth and success for the company's real estate business.

"Elders Real Estate has enjoyed an incredible year in 2023, growing our team and footprint whilst selling more than $7 billion of Australian property," Mr Cheetham said.

"In WA, we opened new offices in Mt Barker and Toodyay and welcomed highly talented people to our rural sales team, including Adrian Carroll, Clemence Haselgrove and Jeff Wootton in the South West, Lauren Scott in Carnarvon and Suzie Perrin in Katanning.

"In the face of a disappointing production year for many WA farmers, who experienced below average crop yields and livestock prices, farmland prices have remained resilient and, in fact, continued to rise to all-time highs in 2023 across most districts.

"Elders conducted a large number of successful property auctions across the State in 2023, with each of these invariably helping guide the market as to where property values sit in respective areas."

On another note, Mr Cheetham's years of experience and knowledge were recognised with his recent appointment as REIWA Rural Agents Network Committee deputy chairman.

He said it was always difficult to make generalisations of the WA farmland market given the size of the State and diversity of properties offered.

However, Mr Cheetham said 2023 was dominated by more listings and sales in regions south of the Great Eastern Highway, rather than those north and this was likely to be more balanced in 2024.

"Demand remains sound for properties in low, medium and high rainfall zones across WA as for the most part, family and corporate farmers remain eager to continue to expand where capital allows and quality opportunities arise," Mr Cheetham said.

"The rural lifestyle market is more sensitive to interest rate increases than the other rural segments and subsequently the number of days on market for many of these properties has increased, with demand and enquiry for high rainfall land suited to forestry increasing and strengthening further in 2023."

REIWA listed the 10 highest growth regional centres, with growth measured over the last year, some of the results may come as a surprise, while others fall within large regional centres.