Fringe benefits: Sydney’s most in demand suburbs of 2023
These are the Sydney suburbs homebuyers will do almost anything to get into.
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Home seekers have stretched their search 50km to further-flung parts of Sydney in hopes of bagging the Aussie Dream, with new data revealing the most in-demand suburbs over the year.
The PropTrack list was dominated by outer suburbs offering large houses on acreages, often at prices well below those in surrounding areas.
“The pandemic trend toward lifestyle locations and homes still has a lot of impact on the housing market,” PropTrack economist Paul Ryan said.
“It shows that people still want bigger houses and gardens and with continued hybrid and remote working they have that flexibility,” he said.
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Measuring the amount of inquiries per listing on realestate.com.au, The Central Coast and Hills District took up the top four spots, with the suburb of Matcham and Holgate fetching an average of 90 and 89 inquiries per listing.
“That is a very high amount on a national level, if you’re an agent fielding that many inquiries for each listing, that’s a lot to handle,” he said.
Other suburbs that made the ranks included Cattai, Kenthurst and Bella Vista in the Hills, Woronora and Yowie Bay in the Sutherland Shire, as well as Longueville in the Lower North Shore.
Huge demand and a lack of supply forged Sydney’s house price recovery, with the average median dwelling price hitting a record breaking $1.065m, a full recovery from 2022’s trough.
Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said pricing was a lot stronger than expected, but the most “surprising” aspect of the market this year was the growth in fringe suburbs.
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“Building a home is far more expensive than it was two years ago, with construction costs rising 30 per cent, growth suburbs on the fringe have become more appealing,” she said.
“Central Coast did very well in the pandemic then had a great fall, so now people may have been wanting to take advantage of the drops in prices that were seen in 2022.”
Regional NSW did not see as much price growth as Sydney suburbs, with many previously popular areas dropping in price, according to Ms Conisbee.
“Holiday homes and investment properties are the first thing people get rid of when interest rates rise,” she said.
“There are some investors in the market but right now a lot of investors are selling or watching and waiting for what’s going to happen with interest rates,” Ms Conisbee said.
After consecutive rate hikes throughout the year, with the cash rate now at 4.35 per cent, compared to 3.1 at the start of 2023.
Craig Hoskins and his wife Rita were among those who decided to sell their investment property as they watched their mortgage payments jump.
“We were shocked it sold after one day of being on the market and we got $20,000 more than we were hoping for,” he said.
Mr Hoskins said he was blown away by the amount of cars parked all the way down the street to inspect their St Mary’s investment property, which is located right next door to the home they live in.
“I thought with the interest rates it would cool the market down but it doesn’t, but that worked to my advantage when selling,” he said.
Mr Hoskins bought the property in 2016 for $555,000 and was surprised by how much it had appreciated in the seven years, having made little improvements to the property.
St Marys, which is located 45 km west of Sydney’s CBD, saw a huge boom in demand, according to Lead agent Eli Alkassar from Ray White Diamantidis Group sold Mr Hoskins property.
“The major factor is affordability, with the surrounding suburbs like Greystanes and Parramatta, for the same size house you will be paying around $1.4m, where you can get that same size home for under $1m here,” he said.
Demand for properties under the $1m mark surged as the threshold for stamp duty exemptions increased under the first home buyers assistance scheme from 1 July.
“It’s been a surprising year because even though prices were lower last year and with rate rises, our agency sold around 450 homes, this year we are almost at 600,” Mr Alkassar said.
SYDNEY’S MOST IN DEMAND SUBURBS FOR HOMEBUYERS IN 2023
Suburb in order and the average amount of inquiries per listing.
1. Matcham – 90
2. Holgate – 89
3 Cattai – 76
4. Kenthurst – 66
5. Woronora – 61
6. Longueville – 58
7. Yowie Bay – 57
8. Kyle Bay – 57
9. Mount Vernon – 56
10. Bella Vista – 55
11. Jilliby – 55
12. Kareela – 53
13. Rodd Point – 52
14. Winston Hills – 50
15. Horsley Park – 50
16. Tennyson Point- 49
17. Tumbi Umbi – 49
18. Maraylya – 47
19. Gymea Bay – 47
20. Illawong – 47
Originally published as Fringe benefits: Sydney’s most in demand suburbs of 2023
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