As Celebrities Like Chris Hemsworth Have Moved To Byron Bay, Locals Speak Out About Being Priced Out

It’s been over a year since some Australian locals spoke about celebrities moving en masse to their hometown of Byron Bay. Initially, some locals shared their feelings about celebrities like Chris Hemsworth coming here to live and play, noting that the locals had “gone on them”. (Taika Waititi had a similar opinion.) Now, just over a year later, things appear to be a little worse in Byron Bay, Australia, with some locals now saying they’ve been priced out of areas and homes and have nowhere to go … at least nowhere that is not prone to flooding and prone to fire.

In a new report at Vice, the seaside town, which is home to other big names like Chris Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky, might initially seem charming. However, in recent years many locals in the area have been displaced from Byron Bay to the surrounding areas due to rapidly changing property prices in the area.

This is a common tale in money-collecting areas, where those who cannot afford increasingly higher property values ​​are being evicted, but it’s reportedly particularly blatant in Byron Bay as the surrounding areas experience devastation from flooding and more to have. A former local who spoke to the outlet shared that she had lived on the outskirts of town until wealthier locals arrived. She was forced to move to a flood-prone area, Mullumbimby, where in February she lost everything but a small suitcase containing clothes, sheets and the scissors she uses to cut hair.

For now, this woman, former Byron Bay native Jessica May, lives with her son in a van that one of her clients lent her. She said she will have to relocate completely to another area of ​​Australia sooner or later if she can afford to make the move, noting:

I have enough now to set up a small camp, which I’m going to do with an RV, and go back to work. I’m moving to the Gold Coast. and you know why Because I can’t afford to pay $1,200 rent in Byron.

While Chris Hemsworth moved to the seaside town well before the pandemic began — he and Elsa Pataky left Hollywood and moved back in 2014 — many celebrities relocated during the pandemic. They include Zac Efron, who is said to have met his former girlfriend Vanessa Valladares there, and Matt Damon, who loved it so much he settled in Byron Bay while filming Thor: Love and Thunder during Covid-19. Hemsworth and Pataky moved to Sydney in 2021 but are still reportedly spending some weekends in Byron Bay.

Even film production has settled in the area, with reports that Nine Perfect Strangers, starring Melissa McCarthy and Nicole Kidman, was filmed there. The city is also home to a Netflix series about influencer Byron Baes.

In a way, this was probably a boost for the local economy, but not for everyone who lives there. Given the ideal beachfront location, property values ​​have skyrocketed, with the average home price in the community reportedly exceeding $3 million at the time. The house Matt Damon rented while filming Thor: Love and Thunder reportedly cost him $100,000 for just two weeks to live. That’s about $7,000 a night for an eight-bedroom house in Knockrow, just outside Byron Bay.

Between 2020 and 2021, the average home price in the region increased from $1.42 million to $2.7 million. Or as one local told Vice, “The billionaires are crowding out the millionaires.”