Real estate prices are sky-rocketing, but can we still afford to live here?

“Yesterday I followed a Porsche home. Not a Kombi, a Porsche. Cashed-up buyers are discovering what we already know ‒ that it’s heaven on earth here”.

The Channon Market is held on the second Sunday of every month.

What the hell is happening to The Channon?

It is the home of protesting and environmental activism, the home of the craft markets and counter culture.

But yesterday, I followed a Porsche home. Not a Kombi or a Subaru, a Porsche.

It seems as cashed up buyers discover what many of us already know ‒ that it is heaven on earth ‒ property prices are skyrocketing.

One property in The Channon hit the market this week with a staggering price tag of $1.25 million – it last sold for $240,000 in 2007.

And that’s double the highest price paid for a residential house in the village to date, a house that sold for $507,000 in 2018.

Prices for farms in the area have been steadily rising over the past few years, with a 60ha property at Terania Ck selling for $2.26m in March.

So what does that mean for those of us who call the town home?

Can we still afford to live there, and will it be the same?

Change is inevitable, but many towns on the Northern Rivers are faced with the same dilemma as the pandemic makes the region a more desirable place to live.

Byron Bay recently overtook Sydney as the most expensive place on average to own a home in the state, and it has had a trickle-down effect on surrounding towns as people find themselves priced out of the market in their preferred location.

But that exodus from the city brings not only higher house prices, but it inevitably changes the vibe of a town.

People from different places with new ideas is not necessarily a bad thing, but it may make home not seem quite like home any more.

Yes, you could sell and enjoy the profits the boom in real estate brings, but where do you move to?

And will it be the same? I doubt it.

As the old saying goes, “you don’t know what you got til it’s gone”, so let’s enjoy it while we can.