Most properties are tinder dry and unattractive, many people are holidaying or preoccupied with family matters, and the shape of the coming year’s season has yet to be determined.

But it’s also a time when shrewd purchasers can pick up a property advantageously that has been overlooked during the previous spring selling season, before the market livens up in the autumn.

At the end of 2009 there are an unusually high number of “big name” properties remaining unsold after extensive marketing campaigns.

They include Raby Station at Warren; “Ruvigne”, Gunnedah; “Murrumbo”, Bylong; Wantabadgery Station, Wagga Wagga; “Ravensworth”, Hay, and Gunnee Station, Delungra.

Some of these are still being actively marketed and others not, although no doubt the vendors in all cases – having made the “sell” decision – would still be receptive to offers.

But as well as the high-profile offerings, a scattering of useful commercial-scale properties profiled by The Land during 2009 and suitable for family farming or investment remains unsold.

As for whether now is a judicious time to make a deal, it depends whom you ask – and what you want to buy.

One school of thought says the market for rural properties in 2010 is set to edge higher, as the economy continues to recover and as food security issues attract agricultural investment.

Another says 2010 will be the “crunch” year when banks, having held off until now, collectively

move on their over-borrowed farmer clients and force a wave of mortgagee selling.

Much will depend on where – climatically speaking – a property is located, how potentially viable it is in terms of scale and development, and above all, how the coming season unfolds.

A breaking of the drought in the autumn could well see the banks stay their hand and this, coupled with an expected further inflow of offshore investment, could see values hold firm or edge higher.

Conversely, the failure of an autumn break would almost certainly trigger a wave of forced selling in high debt areas, with unforeseeable price implications.