Here are my picks for your cheaper alternative to Byron Bay
PENGUIN , TAS CAPE WOOLAMAI , VIC
Penguin is on the north-west coast of Tasmania and is picturesque , has a beach and is still pretty affordable with a median under $ 450,000 . The 10 foot penguin is likely to be seen as a bit tacky by many those that love Byron Bay but they would certainly approve of the weekly undercover market which is Tasmania ’ s largest . It does of course have lots of real life penguins which are of course very cute and fun to watch .
YAMBA , NSW
Yamba has self-proclaimed itself the next Byron Bay so I will give it that for being aspirational . As far as a Byron Bay comparison , it does tick many boxes . Although prices have increased a lot , the median is still under $ 750,000 and there is no doubt , it has lots of lovely beaches . It also has a lighthouse , has regular farmers markets and what looks to be a lively main street which makes it already very Byron Bay like without too many adjustments required .
PALM COVE , QLD
Palm Cove is already very lovely but surprisingly is still relatively affordable with a median price under $ 800,000 . It has a nice beach , a lot of great restaurants , and you can take your dog anywhere , even on the beach . There doesn ’ t appear to be a lighthouse but there is a market that is regularly held along the beach . And being so far north , it does provide nicer weather when southern states are cold .
Cape Woolamai is a town on the southeastern tip of Phillip Island . It ’ s far enough from Melbourne to make it a bit difficult to commute there , has a popular surf beach and a nice main street . It ’ s still relatively affordable with a median of around $ 600,000 .
ROBE , SA
There are a lot of beautiful beaches just outside of Adelaide but given one of my criteria was that the town had to not be within commuting distance to a capital city , I had to look a bit further afield . Robe on the Limestone Coast fit the bill . It ’ s relatively affordable with a median of $ 435,000 but has seen almost 20 per cent price growth over the past 12 months . It has nice beaches and an historic town centre and sounds like a pretty relaxed place to visit .
DUNSBOROUGH , WA
Western Australia has so many beautiful beaches but the ones that have achieved the strongest price growth have been located in Perth , or within commuting distance from Perth . As such , I had to relax my price growth performance criteria to choose one that was not within commuting distance . And the most appropriate town was Dunsborough , close to Busselton . It has a median of $ 670,000 with prices increasing by 10 per cent over the past 12 months . It has lots of nice beaches , shops and restaurants . As an added bonus , it ’ s close to Margaret River wineries .
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