The northern coastal jewel once had the fastest house price growth in regional NSW as city dwellers made a pandemic sea change, but it has fallen off the league table.
But its rapid growth has come to an end. Byron Bay council area’s annual house price growth reached a peak of 44 per cent in the March quarter and more than halved in the year to June to a still-sizeable 19.9 per cent.
The slowdown coincides with a push in the autumn for workers to return to their CBD offices at least part of the week, after long stretches of working from home that prompted a wave of families to consider a sea change. “We could see a pullback in price as a result of not only the rapid incline in prices but also the damage to borrowing capacity due to increase in interest rates and inflation.”Bryon Bay Real Estate Agency’s Liam Annesley said the region experienced a slowdown earlier than other areas due to the two floods at the start of the year.
Annesley said buyers were also factoring the rising cost of living and mortgage repayments into their offers and expected the market to plateau for at least six months as they adjust.“There will be a period of lull as they adjust their income and expenses. It’ll get to a point where it will plateau out for a time but beyond six months you need a crystal ball.”