<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developments/broadbeach-qld-4218">Broadbeach</a> offers plenty of reasons to live vertically, but moving from a substantial family home into an apartment can expose the compromises of high-density living. Privacy, room for guests and usable living space tend to matter more when an apartment is intended as a permanent home rather than an occasional coastal base.

A typical residential floor at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/the-eveleigh-broadbeach-7-9-surf-parade-broadbeach-qld-4218">The Eveleigh</a>, on Surf Parade,&nbsp;contains just four apartments. The 94-residence development by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/hirsch-faigen">Hirsch &amp; Faigen</a> is predominantly made up of expansive three-bedroom homes, with a limited collection of half-floor penthouses above.

Across the apartment floors, <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/rothelowman">Rothelowman</a> has used the relatively limited number of residences to give each home greater access to natural light and outlook. Living spaces extend towards full-height glazing, while a series of bay windows frame selected views across the Pacific Ocean, city and hinterland rather than treating the building edge as a continuous wall of glass.

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“The apartment floors deliver a collection of homes that embrace controlled outlook via a series of bay windows deliberately framing moments of view,” Rothelowman Director Kim Lowman said.

From outside, those projecting forms contribute to the tower’s faceted profile. Strong horizontal and vertical elements establish its proportions, while the changing position of the sun alters the light, shadow and reflection across the façade throughout the day.

The same attention moves inside the apartments, where the material palette combines warm timber, natural stone, metallic detailing and softer curved forms. Kitchens sit within the main living zone, with stone island benches, integrated joinery and European appliances, before the living areas extend towards the glazing and the outlook.

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Three genuine bedrooms provide room to accommodate family and guests, while two secure car spaces and storage address some of the practical considerations that can become more noticeable when moving from a larger home. Feedback from the display suite has centred on the warmth and restraint of the interiors, with buyers commenting that the residences feel like homes rather than conventional coastal apartments.

A limited collection of half-floor penthouses occupies the upper levels, increasing the scale of the living spaces and adding private balconies and elevated finishes. From this position, the outlook extends between the ocean and hinterland.

Outside the private residences, The Eveleigh separates its shared spaces between the podium and rooftop. The podium is centred on wellness, with subtropical landscaping surrounding a swimming pool and pool terrace, yoga garden, private gymnasium, sauna and hot and cold plunge facilities. Landscaped retreats and pavilions provide additional places to sit away from the main recreation areas.

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Higher in the building, a rooftop pavilion and private dining suite sit alongside resident lounge, barbecue and outdoor dining areas, opening towards panoramic views across the ocean, city and hinterland.

“Buyers are no longer just looking for an apartment, but a lifestyle where they can relax, reset, and enjoy a balanced way of living,” Hirsch &amp; Faigen Director of Sales Matt George said.

Interest to date has come from established owner-occupiers and interstate lifestyle purchasers, including buyers planning a future move to the Gold Coast. Many are coming from larger homes and want to reduce ongoing maintenance without giving up space for family and guests, privacy, two car spaces or the ability to entertain at home.

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Much of that daily life can also take place beyond the building without requiring a drive. Kurrawa Beach and Pratten Park are an easy walk from Surf Parade, while Pacific Fair, Oracle Boulevard, The Oasis, restaurants, cafés, entertainment and public transport are also within walking distance.

The Eveleigh is Hirsch &amp; Faigen's fourth Gold Coast development since entering the market in 2021, following The Hemingway at Palm Beach, The Emerson at Kirra and Yves at Mermaid Beach. Each of the preceding projects sold out before completion.

“Broadbeach had been on our radar throughout our time operating on the Gold Coast,” the developer said. “Following our projects in Palm Beach, Kirra and Mermaid Beach, Broadbeach represented the natural next step for the business.”

The Surf Parade site brought together proximity to the beach, protected coastal outlooks and walkability to dining, shopping and recreation. Hirsch &amp; Faigen also identified the street as an emerging premium residential address, with enough separation from Broadbeach's busier destinations to retain a quieter environment at home.

The Eveleigh is now under construction by Maxcon, with completion forecast for mid-2028. Three-bedroom residences are currently available from $2.87 million.

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Joel Robinson

The Eveleigh brings house-like apartments to Broadbeach

A long-stalled Campbelltown development site is back in play, with new plans for 139 apartments set to supersede a mixed-use scheme approved almost a decade ago but never built.

The new proposal for 28 Cordeaux Street would deliver 116 market and 23 affordable apartments in a part 14-storey building, bringing a substantial new project into a Campbelltown market where new apartment supply remains limited.

Plans have been filed over the 3,092 sqm corner site at Moore-Oxley Street, around 600 metres from Campbelltown Railway Station and the city-centre retail core.

The site already carries a mixed-use residential approval dating to 2016. Doroch Architects has now been engaged on a larger replacement scheme, which is progressing as a State Significant Development Application following a Housing Delivery Authority determination in August 2025.

The apartment mix comprises 39 one-bedroom, 72 two-bedroom and 28 three-bedroom residences. Two-bedroom apartments make up just over half of the project, while three-bedroom homes account for 20 per cent.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="136dd5b9-3791-4da6-9e31-76f533f5b4de" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da2.png?VersionId=LgOSy9nwf5u.MGswBBwaGGxuX8QpHSl_" />

Of the 139 apartments, 23 will be delivered as affordable housing under the in-fill affordable housing provisions of the Housing SEPP. The affordable component represents 15 per cent of the residential gross floor area and will be managed by a registered Community Housing Provider.

Doroch has sought to break the scale of the building into two distinct elements, with a masonry podium of around four storeys establishing the street edge before the residential tower steps back above.

The corner position has shaped that approach. Cordeaux Street faces toward the commercial and civic centre, while Moore-Oxley Street leads into the lower-scale residential neighbourhood to the south, and the design verification report describes the site as "bridging the commercial core to the north and established residential areas to the south."

The podium will be expressed predominantly in face brick, while the upper levels shift to brushed and grooved concrete cladding with darker metal detailing. Recessed sections, deep balcony edges and landscaping break down the upper form, with an approximately 11.8-metre setback to the northern boundary addressing the adjoining St Peters Anglican School.

<img alt="First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="c8b3d2d3-c561-4bfc-a5d9-a68c0c10dac1" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Campbelltown%20da1.png?VersionId=AeAEyJU02Gk2k5noUj2StziCvdQ7fW4B" />

Campbelltown has been starved of new residential developments in the last decade.

The only other notable development set to come to market this year is ALAND's Queen Square, a mixed-use precinct on over two hectares that will comprise apartments above a vibrant ground-level retail and hospitality dining precinct.

First look: New 139-apartment plans revive long-stalled Campbelltown city centre site

First Look: Sherlock Construction pitches apartments for low-rise Deception Bay

Queensland builder-developer MAYD has revealed the first look at its major North Kirra beachfront development, lodging amended plans that reduce the number of apartments and increase the proportion of larger residences.

The project is planned across a substantial 4,742 sqm amalgamated site spanning seven lots at <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/2-6-pacific-parade-bilinga-qld-4225">2-6 Pacific Parade</a> and 27-33 Golden Four Drive in Bilin​ga, directly opposite Nor​th Kirra Beach.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/mayd-group">MAYD</a> secured the site for $32.5 million in 2025, in what was one of the Gold Coast's largest property transactions of the year.

The development will be delivered across two stages, with the first stage carrying an estimated gross realisation value of around $360 million.

The latest amendments seek to reduce the overall apartment count and shift the project further toward the owner-occupier market, with larger residences designed for buyers wanting considerably more space than traditionally offered in a beachfront apartment.

The residential mix will include townhomes, oversized two-bedroom apartments, substantial three-bedroom residences and four-bedroom homes.

MAYD has appointed Cera Stribley to lead the architecture and interiors, with the Melbourne-based design practice drawing on the beachfront setting through a series of ocean-facing terraces and heavily landscaped balconies.

Strong horizontal forms and curved balconies will define the exterior, with subtropical landscaping integrated throughout the building to soften the built form and increase the connection between the residences and the beachfront.

The project will also include an extensive collection of resident wellness and lifestyle facilities, continuing the broader shift across the Gold Coast's luxury apartment market toward larger homes supported by resort-style amenity.

<img alt="MAYD" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="d1bcbb05-e659-4b47-8bd4-1e595315e2ad" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Screenshot%202026-08-27%20at%202.05.03%E2%80%AFPM.png?VersionId=jj0XEud1X1DuLt7_KyElhjMdZGOXmLHP" />

MAYD Founder Todd Mould said North Kirra was increasingly appealing to buyers attracted to the more established, lower-density character of the southern Gold Coast.

"North Kirra presents one of the most compelling luxury residential opportunities currently emerging in Australia, combining absolute beachfront with the character and authenticity that buyers are increasingly seeking, and the same sense of tight-knit community that defined Burleigh and Currumbin perhaps 10 or 15 years ago," Mould said.

"With Gold Coast Airport on its doorstep, it also offers a level of accessibility that broadens its appeal across almost every market demographic."

The project comes as the southern Gold Coast continues to attract an increasing share of high-end apartment development and buyer activity.

Kirra in particular has emerged as one of the region's more tightly held beachfront markets, with its relatively low-density character, established surf and hospitality scene and proximity to Gold Coast Airport differentiating it from the higher-density markets further north.

Mould said those characteristics had informed the approach MAYD and Cera Stribley had taken to the project.

"We've worked closely with Cera Stribley to create a vision that is deeply connected to its surroundings," he said.

"Inspired by the coastline itself, the architecture has been shaped around space, privacy and resort-style living, creating a collection of homes that reflects the next generation of luxury on the southern Gold Coast."

MOTIV Managing Director Carly Cottam, who has been appointed to market the project, said buyer attention had continued to move south along the Gold Coast.

"Purchasers who may once have defaulted to Broadbeach, Main Beach or Surfers Paradise are increasingly recognising the value of a genuine beachfront location that offers lower density, strong amenity and a more established sense of community," Cottam said.

"Kirra has a powerful combination of growing demand and genuine scarcity. Beachfront supply is inherently constrained, the area remains relatively low density, and buyers are increasingly placing a premium on locations that feel established, uncrowded and authentic rather than heavily developed."

Cottam said the proximity to Gold Coast Airport was also proving increasingly important for interstate and second-home buyers.

"Being minutes from Gold Coast Airport makes it particularly compelling for interstate buyers, frequent travellers and second-home purchasers who can access an authentic coastal lifestyle almost immediately after stepping off a flight."

The acquisition takes MAYD's active development portfolio to more than $500 million, with the North Kirra project representing one of its largest undertakings to date.

MAYD is targeting an early 2027 launch.

First look at MAYD's North Kirra mixed-use precinct

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Castle Hill, the longtime hub of the Hills District, has been one of the major beneficiaries of Sydney's Metro expansion, with improved connectivity helping drive continued population growth, development and buyer demand across the Hills District.

But despite that growth, the suburb has seen relatively few major new apartment projects brought to market over the past 18 months.

Hills District developer Reve Group is looking to fill that gap with <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/nova-r-ve-castle-hill-2-garthowen-crescent-castle-hill-nsw-2154">Nova Rêve</a>, a major new mixed-use precinct on the corner of Garthowen Crescent and Old Castle Hill Road, a short walk from Castle Hill Metro Station and Castle Towers.

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The project will comprise three residential towers alongside a hotel, restaurants, cafes and a skybar, more than 1,600 sqm of ground-floor retail and almost an acre of landscaped gardens.

It represents the largest project undertaken by Reve Group, the development arm of the Kassis family, which has been building across the Hills District for more than 30 years through Kassis Homes.

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Nova Rêve also represents a significant step up from the family's first apartment development, Grand Rêve, which was delivered nearby on Garthowen Crescent.

Grand Rêve introduced larger, house-like apartment layouts and premium inclusions including Wolf and Sub-Zero appliances to the Castle Hill market.

Nova Rêve takes that approach to a precinct scale, combining the residential component with hospitality, retail and substantial public and resident landscaping.

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Reve Group Managing Director Sam Kassis said the project reflected the family's three decades of building in the Hills, which has evolved from trophy homes on quarter-acre blocks to larger-scale apartment development.

"Grand Rêve was our first apartment project here and it showed us what this pocket of Castle Hill could be. Nova Rêve is the refinement of that idea: not just apartments, but a place the whole suburb can use," Kassis said.

A key part of that approach is the hotel, which has been designed to operate as an amenity for the wider Castle Hill community rather than solely hotel guests.

It will include restaurants, cafes, skybars and all-day dining, alongside conference and event facilities catering to business functions, community groups and private events.

At ground level, more than 1,600 sqm of shops and cafes will open onto the surrounding streets and landscaped areas.

Almost an acre of gardens designed by Land and Form Studios will run through the precinct, incorporating pathways, seating, barbecue areas and children's play spaces.

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Reve Group's Romio Georges said creating an active ground plane had been central to the planning of Nova Rêve.

"There are gardens with pathways, barbecues, seating and play areas, shops and cafes opening onto the street, and a hotel with restaurants and a skybar that anyone in Castle Hill can walk into," Georges said.

The project's elevated position on one of Sydney's highest ridgelines will also provide apartments with outlooks toward the Sydney skyline, surrounding parkland and the Blue Mountains.

More than 80 per cent of the apartments will occupy corner positions, with Turner responsible for both the architecture and interiors.

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Nova Rêve arrives as Reve Group bets on Castle Hill's next growth phase

Northern Territory

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The Northern Territory cattle industry is primed for a strong year following on from the momentum gained in 2016, according to Herron Todd White.
Herron Todd White's May report gave on example of the local market's stability as the sale of Mary River East (1,345 square kilometres, 270 kilometres south of Darwin), which contracted for sale in mid April to an experienced local pastoral family.
HTW said confidence in the live cattle export sector and optimising access to the market year round appear to have underpinned this sale.
"The property has around a 70 kilometre frontage to the upper reaches of the Mary River (which also forms the western boundary of Kakadu National Park) and is dissected by the Kakadu Highway giving year round access to the Stuart Highway to Darwin," HTW said.
"Available for sale since March 2016, the property reportedly received reasonable interest around the $6 million WIWO asking price including plant and a small number of cattle and exotic animals (the property was run as a game hunting operation). However, it wasn’t until the last couple of months that competition between interested parties yielded this sale. 
"The deal looks to reflect the same premium generally paid for grazing country with year round access and within a 175 kilometre radius (up to 280 kilometres by road) from the Port of Darwin.
"This is similar to the sale of Ban Ban Springs (1,873 square kilometres) which is directly to the north which made $11.5 million in December 2016 or around $1,470 per AE). Mary River East is located in this very thinly traded pastoral zone (175 kilometre radius of the port) which is occupied by only nineteen pastoral leases and six crown leases. 
"We are also aware of another pastoral holding (this one well developed) around 350 kilometres by road from the port which is under contract to Australian and foreign interests after off-market negotiations," the report noted.
"It has since emerged that Alan and Sara Fisher, who also own Wombungi and Swim Creek properties in the Top End, bought Mary River East Station as a private walk-in-walk-out sale for around $6 million.
"The Pine Creek property had been owned by the Gleeson family.
"The Fishers had owned Mary River East previously, first selling the 1,345 square kilometre pastoral lease in 1983.
"As far as opportunities to buy station country in the NT, the following are the only stations currently being actively marketed for sale (as far as we are aware):
<ul>
<li>Flying Fox (895 square kilometres), Roper District</li>
<li>Conways (1,392 square kilometres), Roper District</li>
<li>Avago (1,578 square kilometres), Sturt Plateau</li>
<li>Middle Creek (602 square kilometres), Sturt Plateau</li>
<li>Sturt Downs(678 square kilometres, Perpetual Crown Lease), Katherine</li>
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"However we aware of a small number of other stations that are quietly on the market and one medium to large scale operation that is reportedly coming back onto the market. In the Alice Springs region, station availability remains characteristically tight, however we are aware of an off-market negotiation underway for the sale of at least one large area pastoral holding," HTW said. 
"On the freehold farming market front, the month of April yielded limited sales apart from a 65 hectare mango farm in Darwin River (66 kilometres south of Darwin) with a mix of KP and R2E2 mango trees which showed around $30,000 per planted hectare. 
"We are also aware that a Darwin mango grower has leased the old Rewards mango plantation from the Galati family over in the Ord, Kununurra, however details remains confidential at this stage.
"Freehold land for dryland cropping (mostly hay), irrigation land or land with potential for development to irrigation (including available groundwater) remains scarce in the NT.
"We are aware of a small number of corporate fruit and vegetable growers from southern states actively searching for reasonable areas of such land to ll seasonal gaps in their year round supply of fruit and vegetables to Australia’s cities who are becoming frustrated with the apparent lack of opportunity to buy suitable land up here.
"The most recent irrigation land sales have shown between $10,500 and $12,500 per irrigated hectare (including water allocation at around 10 megalitres per hectare per annum) for land (between 40 and 70 hectares in scale) in the Venn horticulture precinct, 25 kilometres south of Katherine."
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jonathanchancellor-7SQnKwU6yx

Momentum staying in Northern Territory pastoral market

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In the past 12 months, $61 million worth of commercial scale Northern Territory freehold has sold - a strong increase on 2015, according to a recent Herron Todd White (HTW) report.
The property valuation firm says that despite the uptick in sales, water allocation and soils rights in the area are very tight.
“We are aware that Indian Sandalwood growers Quintis (formerly TFS) and also local African mahogany growers are finding it difficult to secure any expansion land that fits the bill,” the report stated.
“This tight supply has potential NT farmers (including foreign buyers) looking at pastoral leasehold land and its potential for landing a diversification permit to develop farm land.
“With improving profits from record live cattle export prices, local cattlemen have also been more active in acquiring smaller freehold (depot type) blocks.”
Sales included <a href="https://www.realcommercial.com.au/property-commercial+farming-nt-douglas+daly-501718973" target="_blank">Early Storms</a> (above) a well established, 629 hectare melon farm in the Douglas Daly (200 kilometres by road south of Darwin).
It made $9,765 per irrigated hectare over 279 hectares with 7.7 megalitres per hectare per annum ground water allocation.
<a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-mixed+farming-nt-katherine-7821686" target="_blank">Phoenix Park</a> (below), on the outskirts of Katherine, was a strategic acquisition by a subsidiary of Hancock as a cattle spelling, feeding and processing facility for the company’s expanding herd in the NT.
<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/dz9xllyip/image/fetch/c_scale,w_580,q_auto:good/https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/po.images/2017/04/26/Phoenix%20Park.jpg" alt="">
This property last sold in 2008 for $5.8 million with relatively little improvement in between. It comprises a mix of irrigation land (plus land for irrigation expansion), dry land cropping and a spelling yard registered for 20,000 head of 350 kilogram cattle.
Two Rivers, a 14,120 hectare freehold with Stuart Highway frontage, was sold for $2.4 million to a southern family to develop as a live cattle export depot.
HTW said that in the past 12 months, there has more mango plantations sales throughout the Top End than in the past five combined.
Five commercial scale mango farms sold to locals or Australian based companies with long term experience in the NT.
Value rates are steady, generally between $20,000 to $30,000 per planted hectare for mature, old variety trees, with a premium for Calypso at around $40,000 plus per planted hectare.
The Oolloo Farms aggregation of four farms in Darwin, Katherine and Mataranka, sold for around $18 million.
However, HTW noted that the sale included an onerous lease in place to the sitting tenant for a net return of about 8%.
Northern Territory rural purchasers were concerned with long-term goals, according to Herron Todd White’s December 2016 report.
It noted the first Month in Review for 2016 stated that the year was shaping up to be another active year on the pastoral sales front in the Northern Territory and Kimberley.
"It’s fair to say that the year has not disappointed,” the HTW report stated.
"A lot of the interest has come from the big end of town, both overseas and Australian purchasers.
"Many of these purchasers appear to be more concerned with positioning themselves in terms of long term food security than short term price movements.
"However, they are also no doubt benefiting from buoyant live export prices at present.
"Despite the volume of sales this year, there are still parts of the Territory which have not been sold."
Of special interest is Kalala, 3,760 square kilometres at Daly Waters and Mount McMinn, 809 square kilometres, both being actively marketed at present.
At the time of writing these had not sold but we understand that they have both attracted good interest.
The NT government has recently announced a $4.1 million upgrade of the Berrimah Export Yards (the major marshalling point for live cattle exports).
The upgrade will involve construction of two shelters which will accommodate up to 4,000 head of cattle and assist in the year-round processing of cattle.
It has also been an active year for horticultural properties, especially mango plantations. Larger scale plantations such as Pine Creek Mango Plantation and Jabiru Tropical Orchards have sold.
A major Calypso plantation aggregation at Mataranka, Katherine and Berry Springs is also being marketed.
“For our local office, the highlight of the year was definitely the review of the unimproved capital values for the pastoral estate across the Northern Territory, which we carried out on behalf of the Territory Government.
"This project involved re-assessment of the unimproved carrying capacity of every pastoral lease in the Territory on an individual basis, then assessing their unimproved capital values based on this information.
"It was a big undertaking that required us to call in a variety of expert opinions to assist in providing consistency of approach across a variety of country types from Alice Springs to the Top End,” the report stated.
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j.ballantyne1990-6AQqhLzZaK

NT rural market heats up with $61 million of sales: HTW

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Pastoral firm Hewitt Cattle Australia has made its largest cattle station purchase to date with two acquisitions in the Northern Territory for about $50 million.
Hewitt Cattle will take two central Australian pastoral assets, Ambalindum Station and Numery Station, about 140 kilometres east of Alice Springs, covering 650,000 hectares with an estimated carrying capacity of 20,000 head of cattle, reported the Australian Financial Review.
Late in 2015, Hewitt Cattle attracted the Foreign Investment Review Board’s scrutiny for its purchase of three cattle properties from Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) in Queensland. The sale got the regulator’s attention because Hewitt Cattle is partially owned by Canada's biggest pension funds, the Public Sector Pension Investment Board. 
Hewitt Cattle Australia chief executive Mick Hewitt confirmed the latest deals to AFR and was cited as saying, "this acquisition means we are well-positioned to access multiple markets throughout Australia, including both live export and processing. In particular, we are drawn to the prospects of accessing the burgeoning southern Australian live export trade to China”. 
In addition to the properties, the deal includes about 15,000 head of cattle as well as several assets from the property vendor, Tim and Emily Edmunds' Hale River Pastoral Company.
These assets include extensive livestock freight assets, staff accommodation and administrative headquarters located in Alice Springs, and a small pastoral asset used as a spelling complex for livestock transitioning to South Australian markets.
"In our view, Ambalindum is one of central Australia's iconic assets and will ultimately act as a cornerstone breeding operation for HCA," Hewitt said.
"The property is highly regarded within the region, as is the quality of its herd."
Hewitt said the property will supply high quality stock back to the company's eastern seaboard assets and markets. The deal will also bring the company's total holdings to more than 1 million hectares and 75,000 head of cattle.
The Canadian fund backing the HCA, PSP, manages $115 billion in assets and seeks investment returns for the pension plans of the Canadian Public Service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Reserve Force.
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Hewitt Cattle buys two NT pastoral assets for $50 million

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Australia's richest woman Gina Rinehart has further expanded her beef cattle empire in northern Australia.
She has bought Aroona Station near Katherine in the Northern Territory, a 147,510 hectare property with 15,000 head of cattle.
Aroona Station sold for $13.5 million having previously sold for $6.4 million in 2006. The $13.5 million figure is for the land only and excludes cattle and plant.
It was bought from beef producers, John and Kate McLoughlin.
Rinehart says Aroona will complement her existing investments in the North.
"It is near to the Phoenix park export depot and it will assist part of the wet season growing program for Riveren and Inverway as well as help to provide better market timing options for some of Hancock Beef's Kimberley cattle stations," she said.
Colliers International's national director of rural and agribusiness, Rawdon Briggs was the listing agent for Aroona Station.
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jchancellor-FAypfDUnLy

Gina Rinehart buys NT cattle station Aroona

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The rural sector in the Northern Territory welcomes 2017 in a very positive fashion, with a promising start to the wet season and very good commodity prices generally, according to Herron Todd White’s latest report.
The property valuation firm says that it brings an air of confidence which will hopefully result in increased activity and investment.
In the pastoral sector, strong live export prices are still being experienced out of Darwin and other northern ports.
Although it would appear that most NT properties changed hands in the course of 2015/6, there are in fact a number of properties still on the market.
“We are aware of at least three pastoral lease transactions to have exchanged not only in the Top End but also in the Centre, and hope to report on these once they are finalised.
Additionally, the purchase of Phoenix Park at Katherine by the Hancock Group has seen renewed interest in larger freehold blocks with good highway access, which are suitable for depot blocks, especially for owners of more remote pastoral leases that do not have good access.
Again, we will provide details once these properties have settled,” the report stated.
Many of these types of properties also have horticultural potential.
Through 2016, the sandalwood industry continued to show its dominance in this sector, purchasing and developing more country.
The latest sale of Early Storms in the Douglas Daly district further consolidated this trend.
Early Storms had previously been a very productive melon farm, however its conversion to sandalwood is indicative of changing land uses in this district.
The emergence of the sandalwood industry is also part of the reason for an increasing focus on water allocations in the NT.
“At this time, we are not aware of any arm’s length sales of water licences between properties in the NT.
However as investment in horticulture increases, it is expected that demand for water will increase.
Over time, we expect to see the value of water allocations in the NT become much more important to the same extent seen in irrigation areas in southern states,” the report stated.
The NT has an abundance of water and an abundance of land but there are relatively few places where good quality soil types and reliable water intersect.
Certainly the NT Government wants to ensure that the mistakes of over allocation of water licences which occurred in other jurisdictions is not repeated here.
“We therefore see that the limited amount of allocated water will become more valuable over time, possibly at a faster rate than the land on which it is used,” the report stated.
A rural property at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/sold/property-mixed+farming-nt-katherine-7818338" target="_blank">6755 Florina Road</a>, Katherine (above), the Florina Station, was sold for $6,802,534 last August.
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Northern Territory rural market on a positive note: HTW

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Saltwater Properties has purchased the leasehold over Berkeley River Lodge in the Kimberley region on the north coast of Western Australia, with price suggestion of under $10 million.
The property features 20 spacious villa units with Timor Sea, Berkeley River and Kimberley views, restaurant, bar, conference and pool facilities, staff accommodation, workshops and a dedicated airstrip on a 4704 hectare site.
The leasehold on the four year old 5 star resort is 20 years with a 20 year option. It was was sold by Berkeley River Holdings through Savills senior hotels executive Nic Simarro.
Mr Simarro said said the property had attracted 36 enquiries from a mix of local and offshore investors, but was exceptionally well suited to Saltwater which owns and/or manages up to 30 hotel/resort/apartment properties across Australia including Broome properties, Kimberley Sands Resort &amp; Spa and the Pearl of Cable Beach.
"This is really an extraordinary property from the flight in over some of Australia’s most iconic outback landscapes to the beautiful expanse of the Timor Sea, the Berkeley River, panoramic views, and the high level of individual accommodation and service which includes a 5 star restaurant,’’ he said.
"The fact the Berkeley was offered at well below replacement cost and that the resort offered exceptional growth potential, given occupancy had grown exponentially since its 2012 opening, were also important factors."
For more information, <a href="https://www.berkeleyriver.com.au/" target="_blank">click here</a>.
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Saltwater takes Berkeley River Lodge leasehold through Savills 

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Access to natural waters is key to the rural leasing and property market in the Northern Territory, according to Herron Todd White's rural report for November.
According to HTW, the main attractions of the two leases that have sold to businessman Kerry Stokes is access to natural water.
"This is the second holding in the Kimberley that Kerry Stokes has purchased this year with the purchase of Napier Downs at the start of the year, HTW said.
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"The northern section forms part of the Isdell River catchment and drains into the Walcott Inlet and the southern section is formed by the Adcock and Hahn Rivers. At the time of the sale, the property was relatively undeveloped, however since settlement, the purchaser has embarked on a development program of pastoral infrastructure.
"Another possible sale in the Kimberley is Yakka Munga, located approximately 100 kilometres north of Derby. The property has reportedly sold to an international purchaser for an unconfirmed amount. Although the property is a fair quality cattle station, it has good access and proximity to Broome and the ability for further development. 
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"There is continued momentum in the NT pastoral market, with Mount McMinn now offered for sale. This 809 square kilometre pastoral lease reportedly has a carrying capacity of about 5,000 head. We hope to have further details next month."
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Natural water key to big Northern Territory sales: HTW

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The NT, SA and WA housing markets are a either beginning to rebound or approaching the bottom of the market, according to Herron Todd White’s latest monthly market report.
The property advisory firm says that these areas are in a reasonably balanced position with Darwin and Perth reporting an oversupply of houses.
The demand for houses is fair across the board with only Darwin, Perth and South West WA's market softening, while the volume of houses being sold remains stable.
<a href="/images/2016/10/14/NT%20units.jpg" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="/images/2016/10/14/NT%20units.jpg" alt="">
Units in the NT, SA and WA areas, however, are currently either at the bottom of the property cycle market or approaching.
HTW report a steady amount of units being sold with only Darwin, Perth and South West WA reporting a decline in units being sold.
Darwin and Perth's rental vacancy unit market is increasing.
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Units in NT, SA and WA areas at bottom of property market cycle despite steady unit sales: HTW

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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/65155/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1">
GUEST OBSERVER
Katter's Australian Party federal MP Bob Katter said 30 percent of the Northern Territory's farmland and 22 percent of Tasmania's farmland is foreign-owned. Is that true?
Foreign ownership of Australian agricultural land is not new. Foreign cattle barons owned large areas of land in the Australian outback throughout much of the 20th century.
However, foreign investors' interest in large tracts of farmland, and the federal treasurer’s decision to block the sale of the S. Kidman and Co cattle properties to a Chinese buyer, have helped fuel public debate on the issue.
When the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) released a new Agricultural Land Register in early September, federal MP Bob Katter said that 30 percent of Northern Territory farmland and 22 percent of Tasmanian farmland is now foreign-owned.
Is that right?
Checking the source
The Conversation asked a spokesperson for Bob Katter for sources to support his assertion but did not hear back before deadline.
Nevertheless, it’s clear Katter was referring to the Australian Taxation Office’s new Register of Foreign Ownership of Agricultural Land.
The register lists investors who are legally required to report their interests in Australian agricultural land - whether that interest is freehold (meaning owned outright) or leasehold (meaning the land is rented).
Under rules announced in early 2015, investors must now notify the tax office within 30 days if they:
<ul>
<li>Are a foreign person starting to hold agricultural land</li>
<li>Are a foreign person ceasing to hold agricultural land</li>
<li>Become a foreign person while holding agricultural land</li>
<li>Cease to be a foreign person while holding agricultural land</li>
<li>Are a foreign person holding land that becomes agricultural land or</li>
<li>Are a foreign person holding land that ceases to be agricultural land</li>
</ul>
To build the register, the ATO collects investors' names, contact details, country of incorporation and Australian Business Number or equivalent identifier. For individual investors, the ATO recorded their nationality, and passport and visa details. It also collects the land title details.
The ATO report covers registrations made between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016.
What does the report show?
The report shows that the largest amount of foreign agricultural land is held by investors from the United Kingdom, in control of 27.5 million hectares. Investors from the the United States (7.7 million hectares) hold the second largest amount of land, followed by the Netherlands (3.0 million hectares). Chinese investors hold the fifth largest amount of land, with about 1.5 million hectares.
<a href="/images/2016/09/22/image-20160921-12468-1wprtdj.png" target="_blank">Click to enlarge</a>
<img src="/images/2016/09/22/image-20160921-12468-1wprtdj.png" alt="">
<a class="source" href="https://firb.gov.au/about/publication/register-of-foreign-ownership-of-agricultural-land/">The Conversation/Foreign Investment Review Board</a>, <a class="license" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a>
<h2>Leasing vs owning</h2>
Bob Katter correctly quoted the percentages from the report, but his wording wasn’t quite accurate. He didn’t differentiate between foreign-owned and foreign-leased land.
To be fair, though, it’s not unusual for land to be leased for long periods of time – even as much as 99 years. So in practice, the difference between owning and leasing may be moot. The register doesn’t specify the length of the leases, saying only that:
"An interest in agricultural land includes a freehold interest or the right to occupy land under a lease (including a sublease or licence) where the term of the lease or licence (including any extension or renewal) is reasonably likely to exceed five years."
What we do know is that the register shows that 30.1 percent of agricultural land in the Northern Territory and 21.8 percent of agricultural land in Tasmania is held by foreign interests.
The register shows that almost all of the foreign-held agricultural land in the Northern Territory is leased (but the register doesn’t say exactly how long the leases are).
In Tasmania, the numbers are very different. The register shows that of the farmland there that is held by foreigners, about 88 percent of it is freehold – meaning it is owned by a foreign interest.
Much of the land identified in the report, particularly in the Northern Territory, is likely to be Crown leasehold. This means ultimate ownership rights remain with the Australian government, and lessees are required to manage the land in line with Australian property, agricultural and environmental laws.
<h2>How does this compare to the past?</h2>
We don’t know for sure, because the ATO register is the first of its kind.
The main previous source of official data on this issue was the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) Agricultural Land and Water Ownership Survey, run in 2010 and 2013.
The 2013 ABS survey found 12.4 percent of Australian agricultural land had some level of foreign ownership, saying that:
Of the 400 million hectares of agricultural land in Australia, nearly 50 million hectares had some level of foreign ownership; this is up by around 5 million hectares, an increase of 11 percent on the 2010 result.
The ABS reported 31.7 percent of Northern Territory farmland as foreign-owned in 2013. Unfortunately, the Tasmanian data from the 2013 survey was not published.
If we compare the ATO and ABS data, it appears that the percentage of foreign-held agricultural land in Australia increased slightly between 2013 and 2016. It also appears that the percentage of foreign-held farmland in the Northern Territory fell slightly.
But care must be taken when comparing the results from the ATO register and the ABS survey. The ABS survey presents estimates based on a sample of agricultural businesses listed in the ABS business register, and must be used with care because of potential sampling errors.
It’s likely that the ATO register reflects a more complete record of foreign ownership and leasing than the earlier ABS data.
<h2>What don’t we know about foreign control of agricultural land?</h2>
Not all the information collected by the ATO has been made public.
The publicly available report doesn’t show who owns the land – it doesn’t show what proportion of the foreign-held land is owned or leased by foreign governments or foreign government investors such as state-owned enterprises.
The register’s guiding legislation states that any publicly reported statistics must not identify investors, which limits what information the ATO can release for public perusal.
<h2>Verdict</h2>
Bob Katter got his figures right but his wording was not entirely accurate. It would have been more accurate for him to say that 30% of the Northern Territory’s farmland and about 22% percent of Tasmania’s farmland is now foreign-held – not foreign-“owned”.
In the Northern Territory, most of the foreign-held land is leased; in Tasmania most of that foreign-held land is owned outright by the foreign entity.
However, the register doesn’t include the length of land leases. For those tracts of land held under very long leases, the practical difference between owning and leasing may not be meaningful. – Erin Smith and Bill Pritchard.
<h2>Review</h2>
This is a sound FactCheck. I have independently confirmed all data and calculations used in the analysis. The authors are correct in confirming Katter’s claim, with the caveat that the term foreign “held” rather than “owned” should have been used.
Some further – and significant – qualifications of the ATO data can also be drawn out:
While Tasmania and NT have relatively similar overall levels, their sectoral patterns are qualitatively different. As the ATO data show, most foreign-owned land in NT is for livestock production, while in Tasmania nearly all is in the forestry sector.
The legal differences between ownership and leasing are very slight in terms of assessing control and legal compliance matters. While the authors claim that leaseholders are required to meet “all Australian property, agricultural and environmental laws”, this is equally true of freeholders as well.
The ATO report appears not to adjust for the share of a property held by a foreign interest. For example, it does not differentiate between a farm that is 20 percent foreign-owned and one that is 100% foreign-owned. It is possible that some or even much of the “foreign held” land is actually a minority share in a joint-venture with Australian partners.
Significantly, the report only identifies the “place of incorporation” of the investor, rather than the nationality of the ultimate owner. Much of the British and American interests may well be held by legal persons of third countries, who have incorporated businesses (or bought shares in property trusts) in these jurisdictions. The dominance of the US and UK might therefore reflect a practice of incorporating agribusinesses in these countries, rather than ultimate ownership residing there. – Jeffrey Wilson
Erin Smith is post-doctoral Research Fellow, University of the Sunshine Coast and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/erin-smith-94841" target="_blank">here</a>.
Bill Pritchard is professor in Human Geography, University of Sydney and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/bill-pritchard-126" target="_blank">here</a>.
Jeffrey Wilson is fellow of the Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University and can be contacted <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jeffrey-wilson-12717" target="_blank">here</a>.
All are authors for The Conversation.
 
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Is 30 percent of Northern Territory farmland and 22 percent of Tasmanian farmland foreign-owned?

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Back around this time in 2015, a half-a-million dollars in Northern Territory’s Alice Springs would have net an investor or owner occupier a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home, possibly with a pool and situated in an established area, claim valuation firm Herron Todd White. 
In their July report on residential property market, HTW reiterate that claim as the broader market has softened over the past 12 months, with the homes providing varying levels of renovations. 
“We have also seen the completion of the first dwellings in the new suburb of Kilgariff. With land starting at $160,000 there are opportunities for first home buyers to take advantage of a First Home Buyers Grant and build their first home,” say HTW in the report.
“There have yet to be any completed dwellings sell in the subdivision, however, we note that a brand new three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with rendered finish, rear verandah and double carport is available at $555,000.”
Property Observer looked up recent sales under $500,000 on www.realestate.com.au and found a two-bedroom, one bathroom house at <a href="https://www.realestate.com.au/property-house-nt-alice+springs-107622519" target="_blank">15 Tietkins Avenue, Alice Springs, NT 0870</a> (above) sold for $427,000.
 
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