Allure of the Coastal Azure - John McGrath

Photography: Alessandro Biascioli

The higher supply of homes for sale this Spring is taking some heat out of the market, according to the latest CoreLogic data.

During the month of October, there was lower price growth in the best-performing capital cities of Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane, and we saw the first slip in Sydney’s median price since January 2023.

The supply dynamic will change again shortly as the Christmas and school holidays approach. There tends to be a drop-off in new homes coming onto the market between late November and February.

Affordability challenges in the cities and lifestyle choices are motivating more people to make a seachange or treechange this Spring.

In NSW for example, we’re seeing many Spring buyers from Sydney looking for a new home in the Illawarra down south, or the Central Coast or Hunter region up north.

In our newly released McGrath Report 2025, we discuss the ‘Allure of the Coastal Azure’.

Today, half the Australian population is estimated to reside within 7km of the nation’s coastline.

The coastal fringe tends to have a more desirable climate and captures most of our central business districts, international ports and airports for the capital cities, along with a beautiful natural environment throughout regional coastal areas.

Given many people have a strong desire to live close to the water, it’s no surprise that four out of the five top Australian regional areas chosen by city migrants are situated along the coastline.

The Sunshine Coast local government area attracted 11.8% of net migration from capital cities to regional areas in the year to March 2024, according to the Regional Australia Institute.

Next in line was the Gold Coast at 10.8%, followed by Lake Macquarie on the NSW north coast at 4.7%, and Greater Geelong – the gateway to Victoria’s Great Ocean Road – with 4.6%.

All four coastal areas are located within a 150km radius and commuting distance to their closest capital city.

Recent data prepared by CoreLogic shows that coastal buyers have benefitted from comparatively high dwelling price growth, and their budgets are often stretching further in regional areas.

In FY24, 220 coastal suburbs in capital cities and 356 coastal suburbs in regional areas recorded more than 20 residential sales. Across these suburbs, more than 60% recorded FY24 median dwelling price growth of 5% or higher, which demonstrates consistent market-wide capital performance.

Meanwhile, 31% of the city suburbs and 17% of the regional suburbs registered growth of 15% or higher, mainly due to strong competition for more affordable homes in these areas.

In NSW and Victoria, coastal buyers can get considerably more bang for their buck in regional areas compared to capital cities.

For instance, Dover Heights, in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, was the most desirable coastal Sydney suburb in June 2024 with a median dwelling value of $5,463,711. Compare this to Gerroa, which was the most expensive regional suburb in NSW with a median value of $2,103,965 – around 39% the price of Dover Heights.

Bucking this trend is Queensland, where coastal regional areas in June 2024 had more expensive housing compared to Brisbane.

For instance, the popular Sunshine Coast suburbs of Noosa Heads (median value of $1,870,804) and Sunshine Beach ($1,774,691) are now more expensive than Brisbane’s highest-value suburb of Point Lookout, on North Stradbroke Island ($1,679,718).

Despite strong growth, CoreLogic data shows that 34% of regional coastal suburbs still have a median dwelling value that is more affordable than regional Australia’s overall median of $627,872.*

So there is still plenty of opportunity for buyers looking to capture the value for money on offer in Australia’s coastal communities.

*CoreLogic Home Indices Index July 1, 2024