AFTER being in the family for seven generations over more than 170 years, the Connell family have parted ways with their 1184-hectare grazing and cropping property, Dowan Hill, in the Yass district.
It has sold at auction for $5 million.
Raymond Burn, a Yass GP, and his wife, Ann Daniel, a member of the Yass Valley Council, have bought the property.
They own several rural properties in the Yass area and will continue to run sheep and cattle and grow lucerne and fodder crops on the picturesque property, which has two kilometres of Murrumbidgee River frontage and is less than an hour from Canberra.
Dowan Hill was one of the first settled properties in the area. Joseph Connell squatted on the land before taking up title in the 1840s when the area was surveyed.
It has gained renown as a producer of top-quality ewes and lambs, while also growing canola and wheat across 485 hectares.
The property at 198 Connells Lane, which includes a four-bedroom homestead, five shearing yards, cattle yards and various sheds, sold at auction through Colin Medway of Landmark Harcourts Capital.
Mr Medway said there had been 20 property inspections prior to the auction and six or seven registered bidders, mainly from Sydney.
The underbidder was a local grazier.
Mr Medway said local rural inquiries were rising, driven by an inflow of capital from metro markets and offshore buyers on the back of strong farming returns.
"We are also seeing strong appetite from farming families who are in expansion mode," he said.
Dowan Hill is 28 kilometres south of Yass and about 46 kilometres north of Canberra in one of the fastest-growing rural districts in Australia. Since 2003, the Yass Valley has enjoyed population growth of 29 per cent.
