Sydney’s best family-friendly suburbs revealed: where supply of larger houses is rising

These are Sydney’s top 20 best suburbs for families to find a new home, including in some often overlooked locations.

They’ve been Sydney’s toughest properties to buy over the past 18 months, but detached houses with three bedrooms or more have become much easier to find following a recent explosion in listings.

PropTrack data has revealed there were multiple suburbs where the supply of properties with a backyard and at least three bedrooms is up more than 40 per cent on the three-year average.

This meant there was a greater selection of family-friendly housing this spring – something that was lacking over 2020 and 2021.

The earlier shortage was driven by a pandemic-fuelled buying spree, where a mass of families frustrated with lockdown used the time to hunt for larger homes.

Rampant rezoning across parts of Sydney also meant developers were seizing large tracts of existing houses and turning them into apartment blocks or townhouses, further constraining the supply of freestanding houses.

The Piccolo family are selling their Gladesville home. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Families who wanted the few homes available last year usually had to dig deep into their pockets to secure them.

“Sydney houses are extremely expensive compared to other cities,” said PropTrack economist Angus Moore.

“Over recent years, there just hasn’t been a huge amount of choice for buyers who want three bedrooms or more, especially within inner suburbs. That’s why house prices have been going up at a much faster rate than units.”

Mr Moore added there were now a better choice of larger houses in many areas because higher interest rates and the market downturn had thinned the pool of potential buyers.

There were also more families considering a unit purchase after being priced out of a detached house, he said.

SYDNEY’S BEST FAMILY FRIENDLY SUBURBS

Suburbs with the biggest rise in listings for larger houses included some historically hard-to-get-into areas such as inner west enclave Concord and Hornsby, on the upper north shore.

Both currently have about 60 per cent more houses available than the norm for the last three years.

There has been a surge of house listings in Concord.

There was a similar increase in Sutherland Shire suburb Caringbah South – largely because of developers turning the older houses into duplexes.

Avenue Auctions director Andrew Cooley has called the auctions for many of the properties in Caringbah South and neighbouring Caringbah and said new duplexes were springing up all over the area.

“It’s become a very popular area for families, especially buyers with young kids,” he said, adding that it was often seen as a more affordable alternative to Cronulla.

The biggest increase in house listings with three bedrooms or more was in the southwest suburb Wattle Grove, where advertised sales soared nearly 75 per cent.

Many of the properties available in the suburb 6km from Liverpool were houses built in the last five years.

Further PropTrack analysis showed the suburbs with the highest number of house listings overall were mostly in the northwest. They included Castle Hill, Kellyville and Quakers Hill.

The suburb of Blacktown had the largest supply of houses, accounting for 2 per cent of all Sydney detached dwellings with three bedrooms or more.

FAMILY FRIENDLY SUBURB SELLS BUYERS

Gladesville residents Michelle Piccolo and husband Craig Gowan say they love the family friendly vibe in the suburb so much they are looking to upgrade in the area.

“We’re selling to upsize our home. Our teenage kids want more space and we also love to entertain,” Ms Piccolo said.

Michelle Piccolo, with kids Jack and Charli, at their Gladesville home. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

“We love living in Gladesville as it includes good shopping options, quality schools and fields that the kids play sports on.

“The close drive to Macquarie Park and Ryde is also a major plus for our family. Often the kids can go and hang out with their friends at an arcade or the shopping centres.”

The family have owned their property on Higginbotham Rd for six years and will be putting it up for auction on September 17 with McGrath Hunters Hill agent Benjamin Mulae. The price guide is $2m.

Ms Piccolo said spring was a beautiful time of year in Gladesville.

“(It’s) a beautiful suburb surrounded by parks and bushland,” she said.

“We love how quiet it is on the weekend.”

BIGGEST INCREASE IN SUPPLY OF HOUSES WITH THREE OR MORE BEDROOMS:

Wattle Grove 74.6%

Bligh Park 68.7%

Hornsby 63.3%

Concord 61.6%

Caringbah South 61.0%

Lalor Park 59.7%

Mount Annan 56.1%

Hazelbrook 54.6%

Caringbah 54.6%

Woy Woy 53.2%

Bateau Bay 52.5%

Killarney Vale 49.4%

Colyton 48.9%

Sylvania 48.3%

West Ryde 47.2%

Granville 45.6%

Emu Plains 45.0%

Kincumber 44.0%

San Remo 43.8%

Kariong 42.2%

Don’t miss our special SPRING MARKET REPORT in the Saturday Telegraph this Saturday August 27 and in The Sunday Telegraph this Sunday August 28 and online.

Originally published as Sydney’s best family-friendly suburbs revealed: where supply of larger houses is rising