River Glen development releases new lots near Yamba, Maclean

A multimillion-dollar development near Yamba has released new lots, anticipated to feed a demand from North Coast residents escaping Byron’s inflated costs.

Yamba continues to grow its real estate rivalry to coastal hotspot Byron Bay as new lots are released at a coveted $53 million community.

Developer Wharton James Group has released 21 Stage One reserve lots at its River Glen master planned community near Yamba and Maclean.

It follows the record sellout of all 75 lots previously released in Stage 1 and Stage 2B allotments, where all allotments were snapped up within a fortnight.

The Wharton James Group is the development vehicle of Ben James, the son of prominent Gold Coast real estate and hospitality identity Bill James.

Mr James said strong sales performance highlighted the growing demand for near-beach residential allotments in the region hailed as the new Byron Bay.

“Our buyers are primarily from the northern NSW catchment attracted to the stunning location, its affordability compared with Byron Bay, strong growth potential and River Glen’s fire and flood proof environment,” he said.

“Sales have also been strong in Sydney where sea and green-change buyers are seeing the seeds of a new Byron Bay on offer.

“We expect the remaining lots at River Glen will be in similar demand.”

The first released lots, with an average size of 550 sqm, achieved an average price of $350,000.

It come as new census figures show some of NSW’s largest income jumps were recorded in the Byron Bay region as moneyed buyers flock to the region, leaving the average resident priced out.

Many suburbs of Byron Shire were also devastated by flooding by in February and March.

Yamba’s reputation has been growing since 2013 and in 2016 the Northern NSW town was among the top five locations seen as an alternative to Byron.