Australian Farmland Values 2020

Farmland prices defy drought and bushfires in 2019

The median price of Australian farmland increased by 13.5 per cent in 2019 - the sixth consecutive year of growth - according to Rural Bank’s annual Australian Farmland Values 2020 report.

Australian farmland has emerged as a stable and consistent driver of agricultural value over the past decade, despite drought, bushfires and floods challenging the sector’s resilience.

Western Australia had a record year of growth (28.2 per cent), followed by South Australia (18.4 per cent), New South Wales (17.2 per cent), Victoria (12.1 per cent) and Tasmania (12.1 per cent).

Queensland saw a slight decline (0.8 per cent) after a significant increase in 2018 of 15.8 per cent.

Growth in value was offset by a decline in transaction numbers (down 13.2 per cent) to the lowest level in the past 25 years. However, land with consistent access to water outperformed the market, showing climate risk and reliable rainfall continues to drive investment and value.

Alexandra Gartmann, Rural Bank CEO said the report showed the remarkable consistency farmland offered as an asset class – particularly if people looked beyond short-term volatility and seasonal vagaries.

“We saw another year of value growth in 2019 across almost every state and territory, demonstrating not only the underlying strength of agriculture’s base asset in farmland, but of the sector overall,” Ms Gartmann said.

“While land values change from year to year, Australian farmland has delivered an average compound annual growth of 7.5 per cent over the past 20 years.

“Rural Bank’s Australian Farmland Values 2020 report uncovers significant changes over the past 25 years and two clear long-term trends – higher values and fewer transactions. These are trends that we expect will continue.

“While farmers are grappling with new challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing impact of drought and bushfire, agriculture, as an essential industry, has a long track record of getting through difficult times such as these,” Ms Gartmann concluded.

The annual Australian Farmland Values report tracks every farmland sale over the past 25 years, providing detailed insights into farmland values across Australia.

The report drew on more than 262,000 transactions accounting for 303.9 million hectares of land in the last 25 years.

Further information about the report can be found on our Farmland Values page.