Imagine buying your dream holiday getaway only to realise the moment you arrive that your new neighbours despise you.

For many Australians who, by hard work or luck, are wealthy enough to own second homes, this is a grim reality they must learn to accept.

The reason for the resentment is obvious: cashed-up part-time residents are increasingly pricing locals out of their own area.

And when another out-of-towner moves in with their flash car and golf clubs, they become a convenient new scapegoat for aggrieved residents.

Douglas Driscoll, the chief executive of real estate group Starr Partners, has seen it happen time after time.

‘It’s an unfortunate consequence, that’s the sad reality,’ he tells Daily Mail Australia. 

‘You can understand why they’re angry about it. I would be too.’

Locals are even more likely to resent outsiders coming in and buying up property if they end up leaving their home vacant for long stretches of time. 

‘Many holiday home buyers are very wealthy – they buy a second property, they leave it empty – and if dozens of people do that in a smaller area…,’ Mr Driscoll says.  

Imagine buying your dream holiday getaway only to realise the moment you arrive that your new neighbours despise you. This is a reality for some second-home buyers. Pictured is a home in Byron Bay, an area which has been gentrified by rich people moving in

Australia's most easterly point, Cape Byron, has changed since the early 1980s when an abattoir on the main beach was closed down

Australia’s most easterly point, Cape Byron, has changed since the early 1980s when an abattoir on the main beach was closed down

Will the locals resent me as a second-home buyer? 

Byron Bay: Yes. The area has been gentrified for decades, which has completely changed the demography of the former working-class town. Long-time residents will view you as just another city-slicker blow-in.

Noosa: Yes. Locals have made it abundantly clear on Facebook groups that they resent outsiders snapping up holiday homes and driving up the house prices for long-term residents.

Terrigal: Probably. Terrigal has been a favourite for Sydney weekenders for decades due to its proximity – but that doesn’t guarantee a warm reception.

Mollymook: Probably. A stroll through idyllic Mollymook – with its fine-dining restaurants and boutique hotels – shows how the town now caters for rich holidaymakers rather than locals. Some resentment from long-term residents is understandable.

Gold Coast: Nope. This city has plenty of high-rises to accommodate second-home buyers, so it’s not like you’re forcing locals onto the street. And part of the charm of Gold Coast is its transient population.

Bondi: No. With so many backpackers coming and going each year, the locals probably won’t even notice you’ve moved in. However, there can be some ‘locals only’ posturing when it comes to the famous surf beach.

St Kilda: No. Like Bondi, this inner seaside suburb in Melbourne does not have a reputation for being second-home destination, so there isn’t the same groundswell of opposition that you would find in quieter towns.

‘What happens is that businesses get affected because there aren’t people living there 24/7 to spend money in the local economy.’

Idyllic small towns are most likely to have local opposition to outsiders buying weekenders or holiday homes that are seldom visited.

For every home left empty by its city-dwelling owner, a town is robbed of a family or individual who could be contributing to the community.

‘Ultimately they want to preserve and protect their culture,’ Mr Driscoll tells us. 

With that in mind, here are the locations where anger towards blow-ins is more likely to be red-hot – and the places where you are unlikely to face the same resentment.

Byron Bay

Australia’s most easterly point, Cape Byron, has gentrified since the early 1980s when an abattoir on the main beach – owned by brewing and agriculture business Elders IXL – was closed down.

Byron Bay, on the far north coast of NSW, has since then seen an influx of celebrities move in.

Delvene Delaney, a former Sale of the Century co-host, and her late husband, the comedian John Cornell, from the Paul Hogan Show, bought land at Belongil Beach, where the meat works once stood, four decades ago.

They built a beachfront home on a 2.3 acre block, offering views of Cape Byron Lighthouse, and ran the nearby Beach Hotel.

Actor Chris Hemsworth is a local, too. He owns a beachside mansion he commissioned at Broken Head, with plans to build a separate $14.6million home in the hinterland. His family home faced significant local opposition due to its monolithic design, which some unfavourably compared to a multi-storey car park or a Westfield shopping centre.

Fellow movie star Russell Crowe has been an occasional presence there, staying at his Wategos Beach weekender as has the supermodel Elle Macpherson and Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards.

The former working class town, which once had a whaling station, is now extremely expensive with a median house price of $2.3million.

This means the likes of local hospitality workers and nurses cannot afford a home in the hipster area dotted with vegan restaurants.

‘There has been kickback from people. A lot of people have been forced out of their own suburbs,’ Mr Driscoll says.

Noosa residents a decade ago voted to de-amalgamate their council from the Sunshine Coast. They set up Facebook pages expressing concern about outsider buying homes

Noosa residents a decade ago voted to de-amalgamate their council from the Sunshine Coast. They set up Facebook pages expressing concern about outsider buying homes

Noosa

Noosa’s well-heeled residents in 2013 voted to de-amalgamate from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast Council, considering themselves so special they deserved their own local government enclave.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd and his wife Therese Rein in 2020 bought a $17million beachfront house previously owned by tennis champion Pat Rafter – but they now in live Washington, D.C., as an ambassadorial couple.

The ultra rich, who worked hard or got lucky, have long bought second homes. But Douglas Driscoll, the chief executive of real estate group Starr Partners, said this was increasingly creating resentment among locals, priced out of their own area

The ultra rich, who worked hard or got lucky, have long bought second homes. But Douglas Driscoll, the chief executive of real estate group Starr Partners, said this was increasingly creating resentment among locals, priced out of their own area

More recently, locals have set up Facebook groups complaining about buyers from interstate snapping up second homes in Noosa, and pushing up prices even more.

‘My mate bought a place a couple of years ago in Noosa,’ Mr Driscoll says. ‘At the time, they were getting a lot of people from out of the area, predominantly from Melbourne more so than Sydney.’ 

‘He showed me a Facebook group that showed how unwelcome newcomers were. They were closing ranks to protect their own community – if you bring anything foreign into an ecosystem, it has an impact, normally a detrimental one. The second home buyers were pricing people out of their own area.

‘You’ve got outside money coming in – these people are from a higher socio-economic area, earning higher wages; they’re coming in with more dollars to spend. It started to have an effect on prices.’ 

Houses at Noosa Heads, a two-hour drive north of Brisbane, typically cost $2million. The area is home to boutique fashion shops and sub-tropical rainforest walks by the beach.

The Central Coast, an hour's drive north of Sydney, is also home to expensive real estate by the beach, with Terrigal having a median house price of $1.5million

The Central Coast, an hour’s drive north of Sydney, is also home to expensive real estate by the beach, with Terrigal having a median house price of $1.5million

Terrigal

The Central Coast, an hour’s drive north of Sydney, is also home to expensive real estate by the beach, with Terrigal having a median house price of $1.5million.

‘The convenience means it is the perfect location,’ Mr Driscoll tells us.

‘It’s a getaway that’s on your doorstep, and that’s quite rare really, but you are away from the rat race that is Sydney.

‘You’re seeing a lot more people buying second properties there.’ 

The area was so powerful that jailed state Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid held factional meetings at his ocean-view house, leading to a new political grouping called the Terrigals.

Neighbouring Avoca Beach North is even more expensive at $1.7million, and former Sydney radio broadcaster Alan Jones had a beachfront apartment near there.

‘Somewhere like Terrigal – it’s got those kind of laidback vibes,’ Mr Driscoll says. 

‘You’ve got some absolutely stunning real estate there as well – it’s the ideal environment.’

Terrigal is also home to the Crowne Plaza hotel with restaurants and weekend pool parties, including Labor’s infamous 1975 national conference where future Prime Minister Bob Hawke was pictured wearing swimmers and having a beer with Prime Minister Gough Whitlam just months before the Dismissal – when the Governor-General Sir John Kerr terminated his appointment.

‘They want a laidback lifestyle but they still want some of the modern conveniences,’ Mr Driscoll says.

‘Things like bars, restaurants, eateries. They also want boutique shops.’

The NSW South Coast is also home to wealthy property owners wanting a second home, stretching from Mollymook to Huskisson and Kiama

The NSW South Coast is also home to wealthy property owners wanting a second home, stretching from Mollymook to Huskisson and Kiama

Mollymook

The NSW South Coast is also home to wealthy property owners wanting a second home, stretching from Mollymook to Huskisson and Kiama.

These places on either side of Jervis Bay’s white sands and camping grounds are now also home to very upmarket restaurants.

‘Those fine-dining places, surely they weren’t there, 10 or 15 years ago,’ Mr Driscoll says.

‘Mollymook’s a good example because you’ve got a rich, fine restaurant and hotel there, and you’ve got three or four other fine-dining restaurants,’ he says.

‘Those places are catering for the new residents moving in, as opposed to the ones whose families have lived there for decades.’

Mollymook’s median house price of $1.1million is cheaper than Greater Sydney’s $1.5million mid-point – meaning it is accessible enough for both sea-changers or those with spare cash for a holiday home. 

The Gold Coast is more welcoming of outsiders simply because it has a generous supply of high-rise apartments in places like Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta

The Gold Coast is more welcoming of outsiders simply because it has a generous supply of high-rise apartments in places like Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta

Places that are more welcoming …

The Gold Coast is more welcoming of outsiders simply because it has a generous supply of high-rise apartments in places like Surfers Paradise and Coolangatta. 

Unlike those boutique seaside towns, it doesn’t pride itself on being insular or close-knit and units are available for less than $600,000.

‘The difference between the Gold Coast and the other locations is that it has always been transient,’ Mr Driscoll says. 

‘The places we’ve referenced have a heart and soul.

The same rule could be applied to Bondi (pictured) in Sydney or Melbourne's St Kilda, where the locals wouldn't care less about who owned a second home there

The same rule could be applied to Bondi (pictured) in Sydney or Melbourne’s St Kilda, where the locals wouldn’t care less about who owned a second home there

‘I would suggest it’s difficult to argue – and this may sound pompous – that the Gold Coast already has a heart and soul. That’s part of the fun of the place.’ 

The same rule could be applied to Bondi in Sydney or Melbourne’s St Kilda, where the locals couldn’t care less who owned a second home there. 

These areas also don’t have a reputation for being second-home destinations, so there isn’t the same groundswell of opposition that you would find in quieter towns. 

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