An Australian buyer is close to securing two portions of the historic Kameruka Estate, the trophy dairy and leisure property spread across 1357 hectares of lush countryside in the NSW Bega Valley, as rural agents and valuers report better selling conditions on the back of rising commodity prices and better sentiment. 
Kameruka, famous for its cheese and Jersey stud, was put up for sale by the family of the late British shipping magnate Giles Pritchard-Gordon in   September 2014, with an asking price of more than $11 million.
An agreement was reached with a joint-venture syndicate comprising Australian and overseas investors, but it fell through at the last minute.
The property was re-listed in   April this year, with price expectations between $9 million and $9.5 million as a whole but with buyers also able to acquire it in portions.
Chris Meares, of Meares & Associates, said the 499-hectare Buckhurst lot, priced between $2 million and $2.5 million, and the smallest lot, Riverview, on 290 hectares, priced from $1.5 million to $1.75 million, were under contract to an Australian buyer.
The heart of the estate, the restored seven-bedroom Kameruka Homestead, village and numerous homes and cottages on a 569-hectare landholding, remains on the market, with expectations between $5.5 million and $5.75 million.
Mr Meares said the market was definitely up on previous years, with his agency achieving a 100 per cent sales clearance rate in   May and   June, compared with a low clearance rate in spring 2014.
Recent sales include the Borabinga rural holding in the NSW eastern Riverina, which sold for about $3 million to a local buyer. They also include Tarrangower in the Northern Tablelands of NSW, which sold for $4.5 million, also to a local buyer, and the 1747-hectare Liverpool Plains grazing property Ardgour, which retail billionaire Gerry Harvey bought for about $3.5 million.
"There's more activity, though this has not yet been reflected in price increases. Buyers are still paying 2014 prices in 2015," Mr Meares said.
Writing in the   August Herron Todd White market report, national rural director Tim Lane said the view from HTW rural valuers was of an "upward shift in sentiment and activity in most areas, on the back of general commodity price outlooks and increasing market opportunities".
But apart from some specific properties, Mr Lane said the "trend in land values is not yet being reflected when you look across the country as a whole".
Tim Altschwager, national director of rural and agribusiness at Colliers International, noted: "We are certainly experiencing increased activity in the market, particularly for large-scale assets with opportunity to expand or bolt to existing holdings."