Byron Hinterland $26m Sale Smashes Record

The sales record in Byron Bay has been smashed with a Suffolk Park property selling in an off-market deal for $26 million.

The 16ha hinterland property was sold by by Fiona Toltz Gower, daughter of the late stockbroker Michael Toltz, and Joren Gower.

The buyer was reportedly a trust linked to the billionaire Roche family—Bill and Imelda Roche founded Nutrimetics in 1960 and are worth an estimated $1.49 billion according to this year’s AFR Rich List 200.

The sale was negotiated by Christian Sergiacomi of Pacifico Property in Byron Bay.

The previous record was a $22-million transaction for a Wategos Beach house bought by Rip Curl’s Brian Singer in 2020.

The Suffolk Park property was bought by the Gowers in 2013 for $2 million. It includes a luxury three-bedrooom home with pool, cabana, fire pit, media room, heated spa and inground trampoline.

The property has been the subject of a major renovation and rebuild of the home and its grounds. It was most recently a holiday let.

▲ The sale of the three-bedroom home has smashed the record for the shire.

The popularity of Byron Bay and the wider shire has reached new heights during the past few years, in part due to Covid-prompted migration from the cities as well as its ongoing reputation here and overseas as a destination for the rich, famous and want-to-be’s.

Byron’s median house price more than doubled during the pandemic hitting $3.09 million—significantly higher than most Sydney suburbs. 

Last week, The Urban Developer revealed plans for a trio of three-storey boutique apartment buildings with 26 three-bedroom apartments planned for a beachfront site near the town’s centre.

Brisbane-based developer Vitale Property Group has lodged plans with the Byron Shire Council for the project on a 6000sq m amalgamated site that takes in a popular backpackers hostel.

In September, almost 40ha to the north of the town at Belongil Beach went on the market with expectations of it making up to $180 million.

The holding is being sold by billionaire Brian Flannery’s family-owned KTQ Group, and has been listed internationally.

Byron’s changing status over the decades from sleepy seaside town to surfer-hippy haven to destination for the jet-set has brought its problems of course. Most recently, concerns about how Byron can survive the increasingly unaffordable cost of living and working in the town have come to the fore.