‘Lovely little part of the world’: NSW beach towns with homes under $1.5m, $1m and $800,000

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Being able to buy a coastal home may feel like a pipe dream, but there are still options in regional NSW for buyers with budgets under $1.5 million, $1 million or even $800,000.

Along the east coast, median house prices from the South Coast, North Coast and Hunter range from $685,000 to $1.45 million. This is well below Sydney’s median house price of $1.75 million, a figure which Domain forecasts to rise to $1.92 million in 2026.

In East Ballina, a quiet North Coast suburb which is lauded as a prime lifestyle location with beaches, walkways and parks, the median house price sits at $1.1 million, on the latest Domain data.

It’s in this suburb that Sonya Mueller has been letting go of the family home. The house her grandparents built and her parents later lived in sold for $1,333,000 in December.

“It was a fantastic spot. It was a great spot to grow up in,” Mueller said.

“We had the bush, the park, and North Creek was our backyard to play … We had the freedom to go and play and be kids, run around, so long as you were home before the light was on.”

Sonya Mueller said East Ballina was a great spot to grow up. She recently sold her childhood home in the suburb.

Now 58, and retired from caretaking since her parents passed, Mueller prefers the simple life of a unit, and the freedom to go away in her caravan when she pleases.

“Whereas here … you’ve got a big family home that’s sitting empty. It doesn’t make sense,” she said of the East Ballina home.

Mueller’s brother lives down south with his family, so they decided it was time to let the property go to someone else to enjoy. She described the house as “a welcoming place”.

The cost of a typical house in East Ballina is $1.1 million. Mueller described her family home as a “a welcoming place.”

“It’s always been a loving home filled with fun and laughter and family and friends dropping in,” Mueller said.

“You’re so close to everything, [and] town is a 10-minute cycle away.”

Belle Property’s Braden Walters, who was a listing agent for the property, said the area had been “super popular” for investors, retirees and young families.

“Everyone knows either Ballina or Lennox Head … nobody really searches for East Ballina. That’s why it’s remained under the radar for so many years. But it is actually the prized coastal enclave of Ballina,” he said.

A beach lifestyle is also possible for under $1 million.

In the Port Stephens area, Salamander Bay has a median house price of $983,250. Or further south, Shoalhaven Heads and Culburra Beach have a median of $978,000 and $970,000 respectively.

A sunny day at Culburra Beach, where the median house price is $970,000.

Selling agent Tracy Blosdale from First National Port Stephens in September sold a holiday house, one house back from the water in Salamander Bay, at auction for $990,000.

The property was not liveable, she said, so the price was based on land value. It was split between two units upstairs and two downstairs.

“There was still a lot of work to do for whoever purchased it,” Blosdale said.

“The property had been in a family for many, many, many years.”

She said the buyer may be “thinking of bringing it back to its glory.

“It’s a lovely little part of the world.”

Other towns coming in under $1 million on Domain data, include the South Coast’s Tura Beach ($880,000 median house price), Merimbula ($880,000) and Ulladulla ($835,000).

Or further north, Port Macquarie has a median house price of $830,000, while Ballina sits at $820,000 and Woolgoolga at $805,000.

The median house prices in Woolgoolga sits at $805,000, according to Domain data.

Below an $800,000 median house price, options include Forster ($770,000), Old Bar ($755,000) and Eden ($686,500).

In Harrington, near Taree, LJ Hooker’s Aaron Wallis in October sold a two-storey three-bedroom home for $770,000. Just two blocks back from the water, the residence appealed to a Hunter Valley investor with long-term retirement plans.

“There’s a lagoon and a breakwall and a beach. So you’re walking around the corner to go fishing,” Wallis said. “In my opinion, Harrington’s the best value on the coast between Newcastle and the Gold Coast at the moment.”

Wallis said Taree, the nearest regional centre, was 25 minutes away, and Port Macquarie was about 50 minutes away.

“We are a little coastal town, so we feel like a little coastal town. For better or worse, we will always feel like a little coastal town. So we gain people because of that, [and] we do lose people because of that,” he said.