{"id":35198,"date":"2021-10-19T12:02:29","date_gmt":"2021-10-18T23:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/?p=35198"},"modified":"2021-10-19T12:02:29","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T23:02:29","slug":"confessions-of-a-real-estate-agent-in-priced-out-byron-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propertynoise.co.nz\/au\/confessions-of-a-real-estate-agent-in-priced-out-byron-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Confessions of a real estate agent in priced-out Byron Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

PHOTO: Byron Bay<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I started working as an agent in Byron Bay<\/a> in late 2016, the median house price was sitting at around $1.1m and rapidly increasing with the spillover from the Sydney property boom.<\/p>\n

Everyone was in awe. Two years before, it had been half that, as regional Australian property values were beginning to recover from the GFC.<\/p>\n

From 2016 until last year\u2019s lockdown ended, Byron Bay had averaged 74 home sales annually, and the line on the graphs keeps going up, slowing and ebbing every now and then.<\/p>\n

As of August 2021 the median house price is $2.55m, with a 70% increase in a year. If you owned property before this boom, you\u2019ve most likely made more money in the value of your home than you could make in your entire life by saving your money.<\/p>\n

There are over 60 agents \u201cspecialising\u201d in selling property in the suburb of Byron Bay and there aren\u2019t many properties to sell. As a result, a lot of the agents here hate each other.
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\"Hemsworths\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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Chris and Liam Hemsworth transform $4.25million Byron Bay property into entertaining oasis<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n


\nBefore the pandemic the majority of people buying and selling here were locals.<\/p>\n

The influx of people from interstate and wealthy expats coming home has stopped local owners from being able to trade homes.<\/p>\n

People buying and selling within the market are competing with more financially capable and eager buyers. If they cannot buy without selling, they risk missing out on the property or, worse, not finding one, as prices increase every month.<\/p>\n

The rental market has been horrific for the community. The lockdown in 2020 saw holiday rental properties empty out and owners doing incredibly affordable short leases.<\/p>\n

People jumped on these options, but when their leases expired, they joined the rush of everyone else fleeing to regional Australia (including film productions, which need a separate bathroom for their employees, meaning you have five-bedroom homes with two people living there).<\/p>\n

The prices increased a lot, and if your lease expired, the owners moved in or rent went up past what is possible to pay. You could end up at the caravan park. Single mums who wanted to keep their children in the school zone ended up in places like that, with unstable housing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Rip<\/a><\/div>\n
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Rip Curl founder Brian Singer buys Geoff Morgan\u2019s $22 million Byron Bay house<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n

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Byron is a tight community. It\u2019s still a rural town. Everyone talks to each other. It is a beautiful place to live, so obviously more people want to live here. But it\u2019s changing, it has always been changing, and with the influx of people and money, it\u2019s noticeably cosmetic.<\/p>\n

The prominent age group here is 20-29 years old. It doesn\u2019t feel fair that they pay $350 a week for an average room in a share house now because people with more money can\u2019t fly overseas temporarily.<\/p>\n

The buskers and backpackers are gone, the festivals cancelled. What was once a cosmopolitan community now has a Sydney vibe, noticeable especially in lockdown.<\/span><\/p>\n