High prices in Byron Bay make it a fool’s paradise, says Antony Catalano

Antony Catalano, who owns six properties in the northern NSW hotspot, says buyers there have ‘lost their minds’. The regional media baron is blunt: the Byron market needs a reality check.

Antony Catalano, executive chairman of Australian Community Media and View Media Group, describes Byron as a ‘fool’s paradise’.

Regional media owner Antony Catalano has taken aim at high residential real estate prices in and around Byron Bay, saying houses that would sell for $4m in Sydney fetch up to $9m in Byron.

“It makes no sense,” said Mr Catalano, who owns six properties in Wategos Beach including hotel Raes on Wategos, just off the Byron Bay township on the NSW far north coast.

“It’s a beautiful place to live and own a second home, [but] people buying at these prices have lost their minds. I think houses in the centre of town are overvalued by 30, 40, and 50 per cent.

“The area lacks the infrastructure, lacks education facilities, and the community facilities to warrant those prices.”

Mr Catalano, executive chairman of Australian Community Media and View Media Group, describes Byron as a ‘fool’s paradise”.

“People get caught up in the nonsense. People need to think very carefully and pull their heads in,” he said.

Antony Catalano. Picture: David Geraghty

Mr Catalano admits that he himself has been caught out by Byron’s high prices.

“I bought a property on AFL grand final day 2007 and it settled the following year for $2.345m. For 10 years the house was worth less than what I paid. [But] I eventually sold it for $3m-plus.”

“Weatherboard houses in the centre of town with asking prices of more than $10m is absolute ­lunacy. Anyone buying a property at these prices can expect to be ­[financially] under water for a very long time.

“I think Byron Bay and regional prices were grossly overinflated and I think that is being recognised with properties selling for considerably less than the original asking price. Now that the sting has come out of the market, houses put on the market for $17m are selling for $12m.”

An aerial view of Wategos Beach.

Mr Catalano is also highly critical of the rising cost of land tax on secondary homes.

“It’s absurd to see some valuations exceeding the prices of harbourfront homes in Sydney. I think the Byron market needs a reality check,” he said.

Byron Bay had typically been a place to purchase a secondary home, “but to have properties in the area which are largely weatherboard homes sell for more than beautifully built city homes makes no sense.

“With the prices people are paying now, they will be gobsmacked, if it is not their principal place of residence, when they understand the hefty land tax ­payable.

“Unless it’s going to be your principal place of residence, you should think very carefully about buying secondary property in Australia, because the land tax could financially cripple you.”

The owners of this property at 15 Sunrise Lane, Ewingsdale, want up to $5.5m

Mr Catalano said he was paying more than $1m a year in land tax on his personally owned properties and the same amount on his commercial properties. “The amount I am paying across private and commercial property has doubled in the past three years, and that would be the same for everyone,” he said.

Agent Su Reynolds, director of sales at Byron’s First National, said she was expecting house price rises in the area by the third quarter of this year.

“Byron is the most expensive regional area in the country. It’s about the beauty, the facilities and the limited supply of land,’’ Ms Reynolds said.

While she concurs that the cost of land tax is an issue, she says the area is attractive to multimillion-dollar property buyers who often purchase for generational wealth for their grandchildren.

Antony Catalano says Byron lacks the infrastructure, education facilities, and the community facilities to warrant the high prices buyers pay in the town and surrounbding region.

She is marketing 14 Henderson Place, Lennox Heads, located 19km from Byron’s town centre. The four-bedroom house on 1138sq m has a price tag of $7.25m. The elevated home has ocean views, ducted airconditioning, an internal lift plus a 12.3m magnesium-heated pool.

The property at 15 Sunrise Lane, Ewingsdale has an asking price of $5.25m-$5.5m. Set amid terraced gardens with a northerly aspect, the sprawling four-bedroom house has ocean glimpses and views of the Cape Byron lighthouse. The house also features a lagoon-like pool.

In Bryon Bay, an elevated property fronting 87 Massinger Street is on the market for $5.85m-$6.4m. Positioned on a 982sq m block, the house has ocean views to Julian Rocks and the lighthouse. The three-level house has multiple living spaces and retreat zones. There is a large pool with sauna, plus a separate pool house or gym with its own bathroom.

Mr Catalano also criticised the Melbourne market, saying it was “soft”. He is hoping his two-storey penthouse in the inner-city beachside suburb of St Kilda will be the second most expensive apartment to change hands in Melbourne property history, given the striking beachfront six-bedder hit the market in April.

The outspoken media entrepreneur says agents are quoting $33m-$36m for his apartment in Tim Gurner’s Saint Moritz complex. Mr Catalano paid $30m in 2018, then spent $2m upgrading floorboards, stone benches, floors and showers to his tastes.