Nearly Double the Asking Price: A Century-Old Gippsland Church Sells for $152,000

• Narracan Uniting Church in Gippsland, Victoria, sold at auction for $152,000
• The asking range was $80,000 to $88,000
• The church held its first service in July 1900 and its last in September 2022
• A young couple bought it

A century-old country church in Victoria’s Gippsland region sold at auction for nearly twice its asking price, Stock & Land reported in November 2023.

Narracan Uniting Church, at 417 Narracan Connection Road, about 10km from Thorpdale and 13km from Trafalgar, sits on 582 square metres. It was built by Coleman Bros of Yinnar for a Methodist congregation, and its first service was held in July 1900. The golden jubilee was celebrated in 1950, a Sunday school hall was added in 1952, and it became a Uniting Church in 1977. The last service was held in September 2022.

The asking range was $80,000 to $88,000, but the church sold for $152,000 to a young couple. The agent, David Tree of Gippsland Country Real Estate, and his team were “run off their feet over the interest in the church”, with more than 40 email enquiries, “countless” phone calls and 11 hours of open days and private inspections.

For Jamaican churches with closed rural buildings, Narracan shows that demand can exceed expectations when a property is marketed openly and sold at auction. It also shows why records of a church’s history, from its builders to its first service, add value for buyers. Diaspora buyers returning to Jamaica may be drawn to similar small historic buildings.