Image courtesy of Crown Lodge
At a time when Sydney house prices are sliding, auction clearance rates are under pressure and investors are recalculating the value of property, the equine market has produced a different signal altogether. Segenhoe Stud has changed hands in a reported $40 million deal, Crown Lodge settled last week for close to $30 million, and the best horse properties are still attracting serious money.
But Clint Donovan says that does not mean the whole market is running hot. The picture is more divided than that. Blue-chip equine property remains blue-chip. Beneath that level, the market is thinner, slower and increasingly shaped by scale.
Australia has just entered a new tax year, with the Labor budget heralding new pieces of reform which could have a knock-on effect for the equine property industry.
Confidence in the economy
For the vast majority of the equine property market, Donovan doesn’t see the current set of reforms, or the interest rate levels, particularly affecting the buying bench. While the wider economy might be at the low ebb of the cycle, those who are still shopping sit mostly outside of its reach.
“Interest rates don't really impact the level or type of person buying a horse farm,” Donovan said. “I think the confidence in the economy can do, however, and that's probably what we're seeing at the moment.
"At the bottom end of the commercial scale, there has been a slow down in perhaps the urgency of people to really step up and get involved. There is a bit of a changing of the guard amongst the properties that have 10, 15, 20 or so broodmares.
Clint Donovan | Image courtesy of Donovan & Co
"There is a bit of a changing of the guard amongst the (smaller) properties." - Clint Donovan
“I think some of that is due to the strength of the people with economy of scale, they can continue to run a healthy business and thrive in what could be described as a downturn of the system. There are a few challenges around.”
Fires at the beginning of the year in Victoria and drought in parts of New South Wales have been major pinch points for the industry in the eastern states, while conflict in the Middle East placed pressure on the fuel supply chain through late autumn. While halving the fuel excise has mitigated the latter, the recovery has been slow, and the new federal budget has several big implications for investors.
Tax, land use and the mixed-use farm problem
The 2026–27 Federal Budget has added another layer of caution to the broader property market, with changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax aimed mainly at residential property investors. For equine property, the effect is less direct, but still relevant. Many farms are mixed-use assets, with homes, staff accommodation, agistment, spelling, breeding, racing infrastructure and sometimes rental or development value all sitting on the same title.
That makes the bigger tax question for farm owners as much about land use as negative gearing.
In NSW, land used dominantly for primary production can qualify for a land tax exemption, including land used to maintain animals for sale, their offspring or bodily produce. But Revenue NSW does not usually treat racing, recreational riding, riding schools or agistment as exempt primary production uses.
The Godolphin land tax case showed the risk clearly. It concerned Godolphin’s Kelvinside and Woodlands properties in NSW, where breeding, spelling, yearling education and racing-related uses overlapped. The High Court upheld Revenue NSW’s stricter approach, confirming that the test turns on the dominant use of the land, not simply whether the property forms part of an integrated thoroughbred breeding and racing business.
Godolphin's Woodland property | Image courtesy of Godolphin
For buyers and vendors, the lesson is very practical. It is not enough for a property to look like a horse farm, but questions are asked about what the land is actually used for, and whether breeding or another exempt primary production use is genuinely dominant. As the market softens, buyers are likely to look harder at mixed-use properties where land tax exposure, residential income or agistment activity may affect the true value of the asset.
Donovan said that while those pressures may influence confidence at the smaller end of the market, they have done little to slow demand for the strongest assets.
Blue chip always sells
In equine property, blue-chip is not just acreage. It is the combination of location, water, established horse infrastructure, access to staff, proximity to racing and breeding centres, planning permissions, fencing, barns, spelling capacity and the ability for a buyer to walk in and operate immediately.
Those assets are hard to recreate, which is why they tend to hold value even when the wider property market softens.
“We've had some record priced equine property transactions recently,” Donovan said. “Once you get up to the medium to large scale commercial facilities, we have had some record transactions take place. Segenhoe was reported to be a $30 million sale, but it was actually $40 million.
“We just sold Crown Lodge for close to $30 million at Warwick Farm. Blue chip always will be blue chip.”
"Blue chip (property) always will be blue chip." - Clint Donovan
Yulong Investments purchased Kevin Maloney’s Segenhoe Stud in late April, and Racing New South Wales added Crown Lodge to their portfolio in May. It was announced last month that Ciaron Maher would be taking the lease on the stables, whilst giving up the leases on Bong Bong Farm and Leilani Lodge at Randwick.
Yulong's new Hunter Valley facility | Image courtesy of Yulong Stud
“Those sorts of properties will survive every kind of economic downturn and market change,” Donovan said. “My general feeling is that there is a lot of media beat-up across the wider property market, but there are still plenty of people with money, and good quality property will find a home in any economic environment.
"There are instances where it is taking a little longer to find a buyer, but good properties always sell.”
Specialisation breeds a small buyer base
Part of what can make selling an equine property so different from ordinary real estate is the nature of each property itself.
“Equine properties are so specialised,” Donovan said. “It (selling time) can vary between a property that takes three years waiting for the right person to have a sliding-door moment where circumstances allow them to become a buyer, or that can happen in a matter of weeks.
“We were lucky enough to recently handle the sale of Rushton Park for David and Kayley Johnson. Within two weeks, we had a deal with the most beautiful new people who just started their search for a horse farm to run an equine business out of.
“It's a bit of a two-way street. Again, it's less market dynamics and more, given the fact it's so specialised, there's only a handful of buyers in the market at one period of time.”
"It's less market dynamics and more, given the fact it's so specialised, there's only a handful of buyers in the market at one period of time." - Clint Donovan
Rushton Park | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
One option for enterprises who are taking time to sell is to lease the property out in the meantime.
“If a farm is vacant, there is a common trend of leasing it out until it sells,” Donovan said. “We manage 35 to 40 leased equine facilities at the moment. The majority are privately owned metropolitan stables, but there are a number of farms that we manage as well.”
Donovan’s advice for clients with properties on the market is to remain firm in their convictions on what their investments are worth, and to simply wait for the right buyer to come along. Due to the unique nature of each equine property, they are more immune to the fluctuations of housing prices.
“We tend to tell our clients that dropping the price will not encourage more buyers,” said Donovan. “It's often a game of patience waiting for the right buyer to emerge, and that can happen quickly or it can take a while.”
"It's often a game of patience waiting for the right buyer to emerge." - Clint Donovan
Such has been the case for the elite breeding farm, Ridgmont in the Hunter Valley, although Donovan is positive that ‘right buyer’ is not far away.
“If you wind back the clock a couple of months, we had two people seriously interested, but for one reason or another, neither proceeded,” he said. “They will find buyers, it’s just a matter of time before that person comes along.”
