Once-in-a-century sale



Is this the most extreme case of the buy-and-hold investment strategy in Australia?

A rural property offered for sale for only the second time since the country's colonisation has sold to an Australian investor this week.

Tongy Station, a 4,637ha property located in northern NSW between Merriwa and Coolah must be one of the longest-held investment properties in Australia, having been held by the Baillieu family since the 1920s. 

Image source: Colliers International

According to listing agency Colliers International: "The property dates back to the 1820s, when Richard Fitzgerald, an ex-convict who arrived on the third fleet in 1791, was lead to Tongy by local Aborigines. In 1825 he was granted freehold title of Tongy by Governor Bourke for his services to the colony through agricultural management. W. L. Baillieu, relative to one of the oldest families in Victoria, purchased Tongy in the 1920s from Richard Fitzgerald's five granddaughters and it has remained in the Baillieu family until this year."

Selling agent Richard Royle reported a high level of interest in the working station during the campaign. 

“We conducted 27 inspections over the five-week campaign, and received 13 offers in response to our EOI campaign. Eighty-five per cent of the offers submitted were from domestic buyers; however, we experienced interest from across the globe, ranging from wealthy individuals, to family offices, companies and funds, he said. 

Tongy Station features a Victorian sandstone homestead, with gardens and a tennis court, as well as a separate manager's residence, four staff cottages and an operational grass airstrip, complete with hangar. 

“The price achieved reflects the strong competition, high commodity prices, the shortage of premium land and the historical features Tongy offered,” said Mr Royle.

“The buyers, who wish to remain [anonymous], are a Sydney family with existing rural interests in Australia. It will provide the new owners with an enviable lifestyle and a premium agricultural asset.”

Read more: 

'Living off $200 got me my first property' 

3 properties discounted by more than 30%

5 suburbs with $1m-plus prices 

 

Once-in-a-century sale
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