Fierce bidding on Serenity Ridge land sale with $1.892 million the top price

The first 10 of 28 rare rural land offerings marketed by agents Ray White Double Bay Founder Craig Pontey, along with Kate Morgan of Ray White Gerringong and Shane Hilaire of Ray White Berry, went under the hammer, fetching prices from $1.51 million to $1.892 million.

READ MORE:

Ms Morgan said interest in the first 10 blocks was fierce, with the prices recorded even "surprising" the selling agents.

"Quite a few of the prices were about what we expected," she said.

"The 10th block is also under negotiation and I wouldn't be surprised for that to sell soon as well.

"There was a huge amount of interest in the properties.

"We had well over 1000 inquiries over the campaign and showed more than 400 groups of people through the property."

A big crowd attended the auction at the Berry School of Arts, with 93 registered bidders.

"The bidding was fierce," Ms Morgan said.

"People not bidding had to watch or listen from outside. Each property had multiple bidders and they were fiercely fought."

And the bidders were a combination of locals, with a lot of interest from between Nowra and Kiama, along with Wollongong and quite a few from Sydney.

"There was a combination of locals who have been waiting for a small acreage or lifestyle lot, which there has not been much come up for some time," she said.

"And while COVID has shown people they can relocate from the city and still work, there is still a lot of interest from Sydney people who are looking for their little piece of paradise down here."

Such has been the interest, that a further nine of the eventual 28 lots will be going up for auction on April 11 in the second release.

Those properties will be a similar cross section of sizes, compared to the ones sold at the weekend, ranging in size from 1ha up to 3.38ha.

The blank canvas blocks with views for days are less than 2km from Seven Mile Beach and five minutes drive to the township of Berry, ranging in size from 1ha to 4.4ha blocks, and include stunning views of Saddleback, Woodhill, Berry and Cambewarra Mountains.

With blocks on the former dairy farm still to be registered, it's not expected homes will start appearing at the location until late 2022 or into 2023.

The former dairy and cattle farm at 510 Beach Road, Berry literally oozes charm.

The subdivided farm, set on luscious rolling land, offers 28 lots ranging in size from 1ha to 4.4ha blocks.

Jim and Enid Hall bought the partly developed dairy farm in 1961 off Jim's dad who bought the land initially in 1958.

"Jim and Enid made a formidable business partnership battling ornery cattle, cantankerous bulls, floods, fires, droughts, rabbits, foxes, government regulations, the deregulation of the milk market and the introduction of daylight savings which dad disliked," the seller said.

"Jim rose at 5am every morning regardless of the season. He started every morning with a steaming hot fresh brewed cup of Bushell's pot brewed tea with one or two Arnotts Nice biscuits. Each biscuit was dunked into the steaming hot milky white brew so as not to allow the biscuit to become too soft to prevent the biscuit from missing its intended destination," he reminisced.

For 32 years, Jim and Enid milked their herd of Friesan cows twice each day regardless of whether it was hot, cold, wet, dry, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Easter or Anzac Day.

They loved the serenity of the early mornings and the tranquillity of each day in what they considered to be their slice of paradise.

Some 31 years ago, the Halls semi-retired and converted the dairy farm into a beef cattle business.

In 2013, their adult children started discussions with Shoalhaven City Council to rezone the property for a large lot residential rural subdivision.

James Hall passed away in 2015. His memory lives on in lot number 10 which is the biggest block for sale at 4.4ha and houses a remnant bushland patch called "Jim's Forest".

The blank canvas blocks with views for days are less than 2kms from Seven Mile Beach and five minutes drive to the township of Berry.

They offer a great opportunity for buyers to build their dream lifestyle home.

There are views of Saddleback, Woodhill, Berry and Cambewarra Mountains.