Beach bargains: the cheapest suburbs to get a coastal home in Sydney and NSW revealed

Beach suburbs near Sydney and up the NSW coast still offer homes near the water at bargain prices after flying under the radar of buyers for years. Here’s where to get the best deals.

Homes close to the beach may seem like the preserve of the rich and famous but there are coastal areas near Sydney and up the NSW coast where having ocean breezes and water views won’t break the bank.

Beach locations in pockets of the Central Coast still have houses listed for well under a million dollars, with unit prices dropping as low as $450,000 in some instances, property sales data revealed.

For those willing to go even further up the coast, beach towns between Port Macquarie and Coffs Harbour, such as Stuarts Point and Nambucca Heads, offer houses around the $400,000 mark. In Sapphire Beach, about 10km north of Coffs Harbour, unit prices are under $300,000.

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The prices are a far cry from Sydney’s traditional beach hot spots such as Manly, Bronte and Bondi, where houses average nearly $3 million.

The Central Coast’s cheapest beach homes tended to be concentrated in a belt of suburbs close to Tuggerah Lake in the north, according to a property report powered by realestate.com.au data.

Ryan and Kimberly Retton-Howe, with kids Corbin and Zoie, are selling a home in Umina Beach. Picture: David Swift

The region includes tourist favourite The Entrance, along with lesser known suburbs such as Bateau Bay and Blue Bay, where buyers can snap up units for prices averaging $445,000-$615,000. Median house prices in these areas ranged from $600,000 to $900,000.

There were also plenty of cheaper coastal homes along Woy Woy peninsula in the south of the Central Coast, which includes Booker Bay, Ettalong Beach and Umina Beach.

Realestate.com.au analyst Cameron Kusher said some of these suburbs were cheaper because they had flown under the radar of home seekers in the past.

Other areas were less popular with buyers because they were harder to access by road or public transport for city workers, Mr Kusher said.

“Location is a big factor in the price and less accessible areas will always be cheaper,” he said.

Homes near smaller stret­ches of sand or less swimmer-friendly beaches also tended to be cheaper.

Chittaway Bay, which at $589,000 has the cheapest ­median house price of a “sand-side” suburb in the Greater Sydney area, was a case in point.

It features a small lake beach that runs alongside a grassy park and is not a popular swim area.

This has made it less appealing than areas with larger beaches and prices remain lower despite many of the homes along Aloha and Kalua Dr being directly on the water.

Chain Valley Bay — $618,000 median — and Empire Bay — $860,000 — were in a similar category with only small sandy areas along a lagoon or estuary.

This unit in The Entrance is a few streets from the beach and for sale at $495,000.

5 The Sanctuary, Umina Beach is for sale at $1.04m.

Belle Property-Killcare agent Cathy Baker said it was a different story with Booker Bay, Ettalong Beach and Umina Beach.

These peninsula areas offered great value because fewer Sydney buyers had heard of them and cashed up holiday home buyers had spent their money elsewhere over previous years, she said.

“They’re lovely, sleepy waterfront areas, good family-friendly beaches, they just weren’t as well-known as some of the other suburbs like Terrigal,” she said.

“You can get (peninsula) houses near the beach for under $1 million and there are a lot of older apartments with water views where you can add value.”

McGrath-Ettalong Beach agent Jarrod McClintock said many of the Umina and Ettalong Beach homes would be worth more than twice as much if they were located in regions such as Sydney’s northern beaches.

Chittaway Bay is the cheapest beach on the Central Coast.

Bateau Bay is also one of the cheapest suburbs.

“You can get a townhouse parallel to the beach for $800,000, you probably won’t get that anywhere in Sydney,” Mr McClintock said.

He added buyers were just beginning to spot the value. “The Central Coast was considered really far away from Sydney before but it isn’t viewed that way anymore and that’s just how it’s evolving,” he said.

“If you go back, Sydney suburbs like Pennant Hills were considered remote but our idea of what’s far changes.

“And now that more people are working from home the ­distance doesn’t really matter.”

A HIDDEN BEACH GEM

Umina Beach homeowners Ryan and Kimberly Retton-Howe said the area offered stunning coastal vistas but remained relatively unknown compared to other suburbs on the Central Coast.

It had been overshadowed by popular holiday destinations such as Terrigal, Avoca and Wamberal in the past, which had kept it quieter and cheaper, Mr Retton-Howe said.

“It was underdeveloped before. The original houses from the 1950s and 1960s were kind of just dumped in the sand and were nothing special,” he said.

The Retton-Howe are taking their house on Brisbane Ave to auction January 30. Picture: David Swift

“They’re now being renovated or replaced with better homes but few are coming up for sale.”

He said the lower stock may be because more people are starting to discover the area and move there.

“It’s getting a lot busier, you can see that even just going for a walk,” he said. “It’s a fantastic beach and it is very easy to access. It’s a pretty amazing place.”

The couple are taking their four-bedroom, Hamptons-style house on Brisbane Ave to auction on January 30 with McGrath-Ettalong Beach but will stay in the area.