Wollongong April 2018

The month in review: Wollongong

By Herron Todd White
April 2018

With approximately 215,000 residents, Wollongong City is the third largest City in NSW and the population of the entire Illawarra District tops 400,000. Although it has the population and local microeconomic factors of its own, the geographic proximity to Sydney is the key measure when determining the main influence on the residential property market. When Sydney is hot, it flows on down the coast.

When Sydney dries up, so do things down here. As the State capital has become more and more unaffordable, Sydney residents are looking further afield and the Illawarra is a go to.

Buyers are faced with the decision of paying over $1,000,000 to live in a suburb close to the Sydney CBD or to consider outer suburbs. With the commute from Campbelltown and surrounds into the CBD being over an hour, this compares favourably with catching the train from Thirroul (1 hour 15 minutes) or Helensburgh (50 minutes). If proximity to family is not a relevant factor, the decision to pick the Illawarra is an easy one. RP Data reports the median sale price for December 2017 in Helensburgh as $911,000; in Woonona as $920,000; in Corrimal as $800,000.