Nardoo Station, north of Cloncurry, was sold at auction last Friday to the Daniels family who own several properties across northwest Queensland.

The purchase follows other large transactions in the area, including the $53 million sale of Wollogorang and Wentworth stations, on the Queensland/Northern Territory border, earlier this year to the McMillan family, who are also from Cloncurry.

Heron Todd White rural property valuer Roger Hill said, despite Nardoo fetching a lower total, the price per hectare of land was unprecedented in the area. “You never really see many Gulf and Cloncurry properties come onto the marketplace,” Hill said.

“In 2008 and 2009 we saw some portfolio transactions, which are now called the ‘Paraway northern group’, but in-between them you’re limited.”

Low interest rates contribute

Hill said he was not surprised to see Nardoo break records after more strong sales of grazing land closer to the east coast and sustained low interest rates. “I’ve got clients who say: ‘We’ve just never seen interest rates as low as this’, it’s the cheapest capital environment that anyone has operated in,” he said.

“Most of my clients and my parents can remember 18 and 19 per cent interest rates and now we’re getting quotes in between 2 and 4.”

While the property was sold to a local family, Ray White Rural Longreach and Barcaldine principal Bill Seeney, who was acting on behalf of the vendors Peter and Annie Woollett, said the panel of more than 10 bidders were from far and wide.

“It had a diverse range of enquiries from the Territory, throughout northern Queensland, right through to central Queensland and on the east coast,” Seeney said.

“We had 15 inspections on the property, which converted through to 11 registered bidders and a fair percentage of them were active in the auction.”

Seeney said the final price exceeded expectations. “That was a stellar result, it was a showcase property and it made very, very good money.

-ABC