Average price per hectare of broadacre farmland has more than doubled in the ten years to 2023. That’s the latest reading from ABARES Farmland Price Indicator.

Farmland values peaked in 2022 at $9,576ha, with an average annual growth rate of more than 10% in the past decade before declining 1.5% on average through 2023.  Farmland value increased most in high rainfall zones along the east coast of mainland Australia, where they wer 10.5% higher on average.  Land values in Victoria’s Wimmera region experienced the highest annual growth rate in the decade to 2023, rising 18.42%, followed by Queensland’s west and southwest which grew 18.05%. Despite higher prices, the number of sales were down—partly due to larger parcels of land being traded in the wheat-sheep zone. The number of broadacre transactions were down 6.5% on average in the past ten years.

ABARES executive director Dr Jared Greenville said interest rates and seasonal conditions would likely determine whether there will be a turnaround in land prices in 2024.