According to RiskWise Property Research, popular sea-change areas have delivered more than double the price growth of their tree-change counterparts in the last five years.
That’s 43 per cent and 18 per cent respectively, based on analysis of the top seven tree- and sea-change areas performed by real estate group, Homely.
RiskWise CEO Doron Peleg explained that these diverging returns are partly the result of the appeal of beachside living.
The significant increase in popularity has led to correspondingly higher prices, Mr Peleg added, noting that tree-change areas tend to be more affordable. The median price of the most popular tree-change areas is $378,000, compared with $686,000 for sea-change areas.
Byron Bay (102 per cent), Terrigal (68 per cent) and Kingscliff (62 per cent) delivered the strongest growth among sea-change areas.
However, RiskWise noted that Byron Bay’s relaxed lifestyle comes with a hefty price-tag; $1.37 million for the average house.
Noosa Heads, also in the top seven, has a median house price of about $1 million.
For those looking to go bush, Dayboro homes have experienced capital growth of 35.7 per cent over the last five years, followed by Birregurra with 33.7 per cent.
“It’s clear from these figures that sea-change beats tree-change hands down when it comes to solid capital growth,” Mr Peleg said.
“This is largely due to the amazing lifestyle options on offer along our coastlines.”
Top seven sea-change areas for houses
| State | Area | Median price | 12 month growth | 3 year growth | 5 year growth |
| VIC | Warrnambool | $352,744 | 7.3% | 10.3% | 18.7% |
| QLD | Port Douglas | $588,160 | 4.6% | 15.2% | 29.4% |
| NSW | Lennox Head | $852,184 | 4.8% | 23.4% | 39.7% |
| NSW | Kingscliff | $907,094 | 14.0% | 44.1% | 62.0% |
| NSW | Terrigal | $919,780 | 10.9% | 40.6% | 68.8% |
| QLD | Noosa Heads | $997,780 | 16.4% | 36.8% | 55.4% |
| NSW | Byron Bay | $1,415,941 | 19.6% | 47.2% | 102.0% |
| Weighted | average: | $686,707.84 | 9.9% | 24.7% | 43.0% |
Top seven tree-change areas for houses
| State | Area | Median price | 12 month growth | 3 year growth | 5 year growth |
| VIC | Chiltern | $245,984 | -0.9% | 4.7% | 25.9% |
| TAS | Evandale | $302,715 | 3.6% | 8.0% | 3.8% |
| WA | Toodyay | $325,387 | -5.2% | -2.8% | 5.9% |
| SA | Strathalbyn | $366,052 | 1.8% | 6.1% | 15.5% |
| VIC | Birregurra | $390,205 | 5.6% | 24.2% | 33.7% |
| TAS | Richmond | $445,217 | 8.9% | 8.7% | 13.7% |
| QLD | Dayboro | $571,861 | 1.1% | 17.4% | 35.7% |
| Weighted | average: | $378,787.53 | 1.7% | 8.0% | 18.1% |
