Five Rural Estates To Own
Escape the rat race with one of these sprawling country retreats.
By Terry Christodoulou
Mon, Mar 15, 2021 5:55am
3 min
3 min
The well-documented escape to the country continues unabated – metro dwellers looking for something more given ascendant city prices and COVID’s forced rethink on space and the traditional working week.
Here, we cut through the dross to deliver five standout escapes from across the country.
Olio Milo Estate, Pokolbin, NSW
Elsewhere, the southern European styled six-bedroom main residence is accompanied by magnificent grounds, while a two-bedroom guest house, managers cottage and olive processing plant round out what is an exceptional and unique offering.
POA; Cullenroyle.com.au
5 Blake Court, Mount Samson, QLD
Situated in a breathtaking location — with views of the hills and beyond — this impeccable residence is a combination of Hamptons and contemporary Queenslander, with soaring ceilings and beautiful timber adornments.
Beyond the two-hectares of land and jaw-dropping pool, the five-bedroom, four-bathroom, four-car garage pile offers impeccable ‘granny flat’, cinema room, Smeg, Miele and Liebherr appliances and a raft of smart home gadgetry.
534 Donaldson Road, Ancona, VIC
‘Hayfield Rise’ is an incredible take on high-country architectural modernity, situated in Victoria’s impressive Ancona Valley.
Sat on 20 hectares, the home’s s four pavilions, five bedrooms and four bathrooms offer space, light and designer flourishes at all turns.
The home – which also wraps around a central pool – is characterised by the use of recycled timbers, concrete, stone and galvanised iron, touching on the past and also developing a unique, modern narrative.
The gardens, by acclaimed landscape designer Paul Bangay, surround the house and include fruit tree orchard, rose garden, perennial garden beds and more.
POA; Mcgrath.com.au
3383 Chittering Road, Chittering, WA
This is a majestic and modern 1000sqm home perched on a rise that allows stunning views across the Brockman River Valley.
The single-level house – which rests on 61-hectares – boasts five-bedrooms, three-bathrooms and room for 14 cars. Yes, 14. Floor to ceiling windows dominate, so too the use of cedar and Toodyay stone.
Wrapped around a luxury 25-metre pool, it’s outside you’ll also find an LED floodlit tennis/basketball/netball court, with an all-weather surface and fully enclosed cricket pitch as well as large, undercover playground area.
Located in the hills outside Perth — meaning trips to the ‘big smoke’ remain an option whenever needed.
$4,750,000; ljhooker.com.au
71 Sand Road, Jupiter Creek, SA
A heady combination of privacy, luxury and functionality, ‘Bandarrah’ provides the best in country living.
The expansive 574sqm residence offers six living spaces, five-bedrooms and three-bathrooms and is set across 21.85-hectares. There’s also designer pool and impressive entertainer’s pool house.
Set up for horses with 16 paddocks and four holding yards, the shedding complex will prove attractive to any serious car collector or those seeking a solid workshop.
While you won’t want to leave – Adelaide remains an easy 35-minute meander.
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The US housing market remains under pressure as high mortgage rates continue to weigh on affordability and demand. Industry leaders say 2026 has been one of the toughest years for home sales, with slower price growth, weaker mortgage activity, and fewer buyers entering the market. However, experts say reduced competition and more price cuts could create opportunities for well-prepared buyers.
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The typically busy spring season for the housing market was a dud, and the summer isn’t looking much brighter.
Housing services companies like Zillow Group and Rocket RKT +3.78% were loud and clear last week on earnings calls: Rocket CEO Varun Krishna called the quarter through June “one of the toughest spring housing markets in years.”
Jeremy Hofmann, Zillow’s chief financial officer, said on a conference call that the company predicted earlier this year that the market for mortgages would be flat. “We actually now think it’s going to be down low-to-mid-single digits,” he said.
The rest of 2026 will remain challenging for mortgage origination volume, says KBW analyst Bose George. The question now is what happens in 2027. “If mortgage rates remain [around] 6.75%, I think that’s going to be challenging even for next year,” he says.
But what’s bad news for mortgage companies could be a positive for bargain hunters. Buyers can expect prices to grow more slowly—or mildly decline—with less competition as long as mortgage rates remain unpredictable.
Mortgage rates at the beginning of the year were solidly below year-ago levels, notes Zillow senior economist Kara Ng. But they surpassed last year’s levels recently, she adds, referencing Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of 30-year fixed mortgage rates. Last week’s reading, at 6.69%, was higher than year-ago levels for the first time in 2026.
“From the affordability point of view, it’s going to get more challenging in the second half of the year,” she says. “And when affordability gets more challenging, that impacts sales and home price appreciation.”
Mortgage application data tracked by the Mortgage Bankers Association has cooled since the beginning of the year. The trade group expects that the number of mortgage originations in the remaining two quarters will lag behind last year’s levels, after exceeding 2025 levels in the first half.
Rocket’s early-stage data—which the company told Barron’s it derives from its brokerage Redfin, demand for its mortgage products, and signs in its servicing portfolio that a homeowner is preparing to refinance or move—“leads us to expect the third quarter mortgage market to be smaller than the second,” Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown, said on the company’s call. He added that such an occurrence is “something the industry has not seen since 2022.”
Prices will be about flat nationally, Ng says. Zillow’s most recent forecast, which shows how values are expected to change in the year ending June 2027, show them dropping in roughly half of the 100 largest U.S. metros for which data is available.
Buyers aren’t rushing in at a time when mortgage costs are rising and unpredictable. But those with the right combination of patience and cash could stand to benefit. “If you are financially qualified to buy a starter home, you are facing less competition and you’re more likely to get a price cut,” Ng says.
