The property has numerous permanent waterholes and open woodlands, with black soil plains spreading to red loam soils. The station complex is on the banks of the 26m-deep Broadmere waterhole. Ms [Alison Ross] estimates that, fully developed, Broadmere Station is capable of maintaining a herd of 12,000 cattle.

Primac Elders agent Garry Martin said the strength of sales for these types of properties was illustrated by recent sales of major top-end properties such as Strathmore, for more than $15 million, Rosella Plains for $6.6 million and Minnie Downs for $6 million.

“Anyone considering marketing their properties should do so now and take advantage of the strong demand,” Mr Martin said. “The main reason these properties are fetching such good prices is because of strong US inquiry for the bigger properties, which has flowed through to the Australian prices, particularly in theNorthern Territory.

* Rural

WHERE else could you buy two and a half thousand square kilometers, including picturesque escarpments and sandstone formations?

Broadmere, 520km south-east of Katherine in the Northern Territory, is one of the largest pastoral leases now on the market.

While fears of drought and low commodity prices are affecting rural sales elsewhere, large cattle properties in the north of Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory are defying the trend.

The owners of Broadmere wish to remain anonymous. There will be no auction or tenders. The asking price is $2.1 million and that is that.

The 2590sqkm property contains part of the “Lost City” rock formation.

Striking, awesome, strange, eerie, intriguing and spectacular are all words used to describe the “Lost City”.

Outback Magazine compared the formations to Ayers Rock and the Bungle Bungles. Author and photographer Colin Kerr said the formations, at least half a billion years old, resemble a long- abandoned city, the remnants of an extinct civilisation.

Virtually unknown until recently and almost completely inaccessible, the mysterious formations are one of the selling points for Broadmere as a tourist attraction.

Elders selling agent Alison Ross said Broadmere’s price, cheap in comparison to some of the major $10 million cattle property sales of recent times, reflected the relatively few cattle properties on the property.

But she said the advantage was that the property, featuring good grass country at a time when other areas were suffering, was affordable. “There are not other properties for sale like Broadmere right now,” she said.

The property has numerous permanent waterholes and open woodlands, with black soil plains spreading to red loam soils. The station complex is on the banks of the 26m-deep Broadmere waterhole. Ms Ross estimates that, fully developed, Broadmere Station is capable of maintaining a herd of 12,000 cattle.

The latest Elders National Rural Market Report, released this week, suggests there is still a strong property market for quality grazing country.

Primac Elders agent Garry Martin said the strength of sales for these types of properties was illustrated by recent sales of major top-end properties such as Strathmore, for more than $15 million, Rosella Plains for $6.6 million and Minnie Downs for $6 million.

The 1604sqkm Oakden Hills north-west of Port Augusta in South Australia has been taken off the market after selling quickly and privately for an undisclosed price.

In Western Australia, Mia Mia Station north of Carnarvon is on the market for $3.25 million while Meka Station in the Murchison area is available for $2.3 million.

On the Barkly Tablelands south of Katherine Tanumbarini sold recently for more than $8 million.

“Anyone considering marketing their properties should do so now and take advantage of the strong demand,” Mr Martin said. “The main reason these properties are fetching such good prices is because of strong US inquiry for the bigger properties, which has flowed through to the Australian prices, particularly in theNorthern Territory.

Valuer Robin Gardiner said there was a lot of confidence in the cattle market and its future, particularly in the Northern Territory where, after a string of successful property sales in Queensland, positive sentiment has spilled over.