A piece of SA’s pastoral history, Beltana Station, has sold at auction for $8.4 million in Adelaide this week, surpassing many pre-sale expectations.
The picturesque Flinders Ranges sheep and cattle station, which also included tourist accommodation and a restaurant, attracted widespread interest with 64 enquiries and 14 pre-sale inspections.
The 154,100 hectare property, which was first settled in the 1860s, was offered by Graham and Laura Ragless.
Six registered bidders operated at the auction, attended by more than 80 people.
After an opening bid of $6 million and brisk bidding it was knocked down to fellow SA pastoralist, Andrew Doman, Yadlamalka Station, via Port Augusta.
The sale included a quality Angus herd of 750 Angus and Angus crosses plus calves and a flock of 6000 Dorpers with lambs, plus extensive plant and equipment.
Elders rural real estate manager SA/NT and auctioneer Phil Keen said the final price was above expectation, equating to about $400/DSE, but reflected the productivity of the station and the lack of pastoral property listings.
“When we took it to market we were telling people they would need at least $7 million and the expectation pre-sale was ranging from mid $7m to high $7m,” he said.
“When you drive around it you see Dorper lambs bouncing around and there are heaps of them in good condition and the calves are fresh. It has productivity written all over it.’
Mr Keen said although the majority of prospective buyers were not specifically interested in the accommodation which can sleep up to 50 people,they were good assets which had “extra value.”
“Even though it is 500 kilometres from Adelaide the fact it is on a sealed highway with a freight run to Leigh Creek two to three times a week and regular mail and there is power to the property – it is outback but it isn’t that isolated,” he said.
“This also helped the price.”
Mr Keen said the sale was also a reflection of the past few years of historically high lamb, beef and wool prices.
“For those with money to invest it is no good them putting their money in the bank for under 2pc (interest) and not everyone wants to play in the share market, so it is an opportune time to invest in land especially with the consistently low interest rates.”