‘We just like being here’: Sydney suburbs where home owners stay longest

9 hours ago 1

When Vikas Singh and wife Lhing Vaiphei were looking to start a family, buying a home in Cherrybrook ticked the boxes.

It had comparatively large blocks, green space and good school access. A little over a decade later, the couple and their two sons, aged 10 and eight, upsized. They didn’t go far, choosing to stay in the Hornsby Shire suburb.

Lhing Vaiphei and Vikas Singh decided to upsize in Cherrybrook rather than buying out of the suburb.

“We just like being here,” said Singh. “We have a great community around us, people we interact with and we can rely upon.”

Singh, an IT worker, said he often walked the 600 metres between their new home and their original home - a four-bedroom property on a little over 1100 square metres, now on the market.

The couple chose Cherrybrook due to its open spaces, which they thought would suit their growing family. Proximity to primary and secondary schools was another draw.

The suburb had decent transportation into the city and was close to bush walks, something that Singh has enjoyed.

“It felt very peaceful and quiet and serene. You wake up to the sound of birds,” he said of their first home in the suburb which has privacy on a battleaxe block.

Vaiphei and Singh are raising two sons in the cherished Hornsby Shire suburb.

Singh and Vaiphei join others who have put down roots in leafy and family-friendly Cherrybrook. The suburb is one of Sydney’s most cherished suburbs, Cotality research shows. Home sellers there have held their property for a median 18.1 years.

For the couple, the community they have built remains an anchor. A bonus is a metro stop, making a trip to the city faster. Singh coaches his sons’ sporting teams and their new property gives them more space.

“We didn’t want our kids to change schools and find new sets of friends,” he added.

Cherrybrook was bettered by four other suburbs in Cotality’s data on median hold periods for houses sold in the 12 months to September.

Home sellers held properties in Malabar, in the eastern suburbs, for 21.2 years, followed by Bonnyrigg Heights, in the west, for 20.7 years. Then came Grays Point, in the south, at 19.6 years and North Epping, near Cherrybrook, at 18.8 years.

Sydney overall has a median hold period of 9.5 years.

Eliza Owen, head of research at Cotality Australia, said tightly held suburbs tend to be family oriented with access to good schooling.

“Cherrybrook is a really good example of that,” she said.

“It’s a very suburban family area, and it’s one that was developed in the ’80s, ’90 … and a lot of young families bought in a few decades ago, and they’ve stayed as they’ve raised their families.”

According to 2021 Census data, 39.5 per cent of homes in Cherrybrook were owned outright, compared to 31.5 per cent statewide. Just 14.8 per cent of homes in the suburb were rented.

Mark McCrindle, a demographer from McCrindle, said school access in Cherrybrook and north-west Sydney was a key driver for people sticking around, alongside good transport options.

Metro commuters can get from Cherrybrook to Martin Place station in under 40 minutes.

“People stay for the whole of the raising of children cycle,” he said, adding that “you’re an hour to an hour-and-a-half from any uni in Sydney, and so they tend to stay put until the kids leave uni.”

The agent selling the couple’s home, associate director at Stone Real Estate Graham Black, said larger land sizes – most houses in Cherrybrook have four to five bedrooms – plus good schools and access to nature were a big draw.

But it was a sense of community that ensured long-tenure.

“People grow up there. They lock into the school. They grow up together,” he said

“I sold for a couple that have lived in Cherrybrook … they built their own house 35 years ago, and they really didn’t want to move out of the area.”

People looking to upgrade in the same suburb was something Alex Pitsis from APG Cronulla had seen in Grays Point, another tightly held suburb in the Sutherland Shire.

“People who live there typically upgrade there, so they might have a smaller home, they buy a better home, or they might have a good home, and they want a view, or they might have a home with a view, and they want to be on the water,” he said of the suburb prized for its proximity to a national park and “old country town” feeling.

Tightly held suburbs were often places that had grown in value, said Owen.

“The average five-year growth rate across these suburbs is 45 per cent which is materially higher than the 38 per cent across Sydney,” she said.

Owen highlighted western Sydney spots Blacktown and Milperra.

“They’re areas where people have held on for a long time, and in recent years, they’ve come into capital gain windfalls, and that might have prompted people to sell after holding for a really long time.”