‘Such a convenient place’: The new star of Sydney’s property market

3 days ago 4

There’s a new star of the Sydney property market – and it’s a world away from the ritzy eastern suburbs, the family favourite inner west or even the picturesque lower north shore.

In some parts of Sydney, as many as one in four home sellers lose money – but not in the Sutherland Shire. It’s the council area in Sydney, tied with Penrith, where the most sellers make money.

A Cotality study of 97,000 residential property resales nationally over the June quarter found 98.7 per cent of sales in Sutherland were profit-making with only 1.3 per cent making a loss. The broader Sutherland shire includes Cronulla, Miranda and the suburb of Sutherland itself.

That profitability rate outperformed some desired areas like the City of Sydney council area at 88.0 per cent, Woollahra at 94.9 per cent, the inner west at 96.3 per cent and Mosman at 98.3 per cent. It also thrashed Parramatta’s 73.6 per cent, but tied in top spot with Penrith at 98.7 per cent.

Eliza Owen, Cotality’s head of Australian research, said Sutherland’s performance was well above average, with the Sydney market overall clocking at 92.3 per cent profitability.

“Sutherland has had pretty strong rates of growth over the past few years and properties that have sold in the area have a relatively long hold period,” she said.

People gather at Cronulla Beach, which is in the Sutherland area.

“It’s one of those places with long-established family pockets in the Shire, and it’s also a bit of a lifestyle market too.

“So it’s a tightly held market and there was a lot of demand for it during COVID. The rate of loss-making sales has also improved in the last quarter, 1.3 per cent, down from 1.5 per cent the previous quarter.”

The median house price in the Sutherland region in September was just over $1.8 million, and the median unit price at $1,009,000, Cotality found, while 65 per cent of June quarter sales were units.

Up to now, Sutherland’s relatively affordable property has been a lure for buyers, but their numbers, coupled with the lack of stock, has helped increase both prices and profitability, said local agent David Kandilas of Pulse Property Agents.

“We have a lot of apartments, villas and townhouses here, as well as freestanding houses, and we’ve had a lot of first home buyers and investors coming in because of the more affordable prices,” Kandilas said.

“We even had a record sale for the area of $2.3 million for a new five-bedroom house at 92a Eton Street.

“Sutherland is such a convenient place for people to live. Everything, like shops, public transport, ferries, trains, are within walking distance, and it’s only half an hour to the city on the express train, which means a lot of tenants for investors.”

Those attractions, and the lower prices, are drawing people from outside the area, said local agent Gerard Foote of Stone Real Estate, speaking about the suburb of Sutherland.

“We’re seeing a lot of people coming from the eastern suburbs, the lower north shore and the inner west, as well as the St George area, Sans Souci, Rockdale and Hurstville,” he said.

“There’s just so much to do here, it’s only 10 to 20 minutes to Cronulla and national parks, and it’s a fairly safe place to live. It ticks a lot of boxes for people.”

As for the tiny percentage of loss-making sales for the June quarter, only a few other local government areas were similar.

While Penrith equalled its 1.3 per cent, Hawkesbury was at 1.4 per cent, Campbelltown at 1.5 per cent, Camden at 1.6 per cent, the Blue Mountains and Mosman both at 1.7 per cent, and the northern beaches at 1.9 per cent. The most loss-making sales were in Parramatta at 26.4 per cent and Ryde at 23.6 per cent.

Australian property sellers generally had strong price gains in the June quarter, when 94.8 per cent of resales traded at a profit, down slightly from 95.0 per cent in the March quarter, Cotality’s Q2 2025 Pain & Gain report found.

But in Sutherland, the market’s strength looks likely to remain.

The local council is investing in tidying up the town, with a renovation of the entertainment centre, trialling an outdoor dining precinct and smartening streetscapes, said Highland Property sales agent Brett Macadam.

“There are also quite a few developments going on, and development applications coming up, which all seem to be going well too,” he said.

“At the moment, there’s not a lot of stock, but a lot of demand, which helps prices.”

Listings, at 898 in September, were down 14.8 per cent from last year, according to Cotality, but above the five-year average.

“The area has had pretty good growth over the past few years and continues to have strong growth, with interest rates falling, which is reflected in the profitability.”