The best beach towns if you can’t afford Byron Bay

Missed the boat on buying an affordable slice of Byron Bay before the COVID-fuelled stampede of sea-changers sent prices through the sunroof?

Fear not. You can still find houses close to that coveted coastline for well under $1 million as a handful of northern NSW and south-east Queensland pockets still offer beach-town vibes for a fraction of the price.

While you won’t snag Chris Hemsworth as a neighbour, buyers can still nab a house for six-figure sums in NSW towns such as Ballina, Tweed Heads and Yamba, or cross the border to Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast.

Ballina’s median house price of $787,000 is less than half the Byron Bay median of $1.8 million – which fell 18 per cent over the year to September, on Domain data. Its unit median of $760,000 is also well below Byron’s median of $1,174,000.

Further south at laid-back Yamba, at the mouth of the Clarence River, buyers will find big surf breaks and marine parks alongside a family friendly vibe and lower prices – its median house and unit prices dropping to $830,000 and $690,000 respectively over the year.

Ray White Yamba managing director Daniel Kelly said while the town has become busier in recent years, it remained a relaxed village with some of the most underrated beaches.

“I grew up here and it was always a fairly sleepy little town where the same people holidayed here each year and you could ride your bike to all hours of the night,” he said.

“But I love what the town has become. It’s busier and it’s better known, but it still has that family friendly vibe with great beaches and a lifestyle that’s second to none.”

Kelly said the town’s property market burgeoned during the pandemic, thanks to remote workers looking for a seaside escape. Interest from out-of-area buyers was continuing to a lesser extent, but prices had returned to more affordable levels.

“We certainly benefited from the work-from-home situation with a lot of people relocating here … but we’re still far more affordable than most, so we get buyers here who can’t afford Byron Bay,” he said.

“You can get a house not too far from the beach here for around $1 million, but stock is low.”

In Tweed Heads, the typical house will cost buyers $996,000, while lower medians can be found in Tweed Heads West ($762,500) and Tweed Heads South ($741,000). Their respective unit medians sit at $750,000, $480,000 and $628,500.

Tweed Coolangatta Real Estate principal Kaeren Smith said Tweed Heads remained the quiet cousin to bustling and apartment-centric Coolangatta, where the unit median is $987,500.

“People here want that laid-back life. We don’t have ritz and glitz [synonymous with the Gold Coast] but young families love it,” she said.

“On the other side of the border, if you look at Coolangatta, it’s all units and there are probably only 60 freestanding homes there. So house-wise, you’re looking at having to pay between $2 or $3 million.

“But in Tweed, I just sold a three-bedroom home with beautiful views overlooking the marina for $975,000.”

Smith said the region’s lifestyle and value for money were drawing more buyers from the city, especially since the rise of remote working. Demand was well and truly outstripping supply and she expected it could climb further with the opening of the Tweed Valley Hospital in 2024.

“You can buy far more for your money here, but our problem is stock. The last 12 months were great for us but, if we had more stock, we would have sold double and that’s the frustration.”