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.

Home buyers can still nab something in Ballina for six figures if they have missed the boat on getting into Byron Bay.Credit:

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.

The popular holiday town of Yamba is far more affordable than Byron.Credit: iStock

“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.”

Further north on the Sunshine Coast, Caloundra is one of the last comparatively affordable pockets within the coveted coastal region. The unit median sits at $670,000, while houses in nearby Caloundra West recorded a median sale price of $743,500. Prices for both have pulled back over the year, but are still up about 51 per cent over the past five years.

Lachlan Anderson, of the eponymous real estate, said stock levels were low and reported seeing a 10 per cent price increase in units over the past six months, and greater increases for larger three-bedroom apartments.

“I have just under $12 million worth of units under contract right now, so December was one of our busiest quarters.

“I see the strength of the market flowing into 2024 just given the number of inquiries we’re getting now.”

Anderson said the area was a popular holiday spot.

“It’s quite unique here as we’re one of the few postcodes with seven beaches to choose from and it’s affordable compared with other areas of the coast,” he said.

While the majority of buyers were from south-east Queensland, he expected interest from NSW buyers to grow, as Caloundra’s location on the southern tip of the Sunshine Coast, proximity to the airport and Brisbane made it one of the region’s most underrated destinations.