Sydney’s amazing coastal suburbs you’ve never heard of

February 10, 2024

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It might be known for its bustling beaches and traffic jams, but Sydney has been hiding a handful of secluded, cheaper coastal suburbs in plain sight.

They’re home to a laid-back lifestyle with pristine beaches less than an hour from the CBD, but there’s a catch – a car will get you nowhere and the kids will need a boat to get to school.

And that’s just how the residents like it.

Several water access-only neighbourhoods on the northern outskirts of Sydney offer residents a picturesque beachfront backdrop at a fraction of the cost of its more famous waterfront suburbs.

While a harbourfront home in the eastern suburbs or lower north shore could cost more than $25m, a house with a sandy frontage in Great Mackerel Beach, Coasters Retreat, Patonga, Elvina Bay, Scotland Island or Dangar Island can be picked up for as little as $1m.

Home in Patonga along the Hawkesbury are water access only, set on the beach, and are often for sale for under $2m.

Melanie Marshall of PMC Hill Real Estate has been a resident of Scotland Island on the northern beaches for 33 years and said these tight-knit communities may be cut off from roads but aren’t secluded.

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“People might think it’s a remote life, but it certainly doesn’t feel that way … Everybody seems to drop shoulders and relax because that stress of the city leaves the moment you get in your boat,” she said.

Island residents permanently park their cars at Church Point and use private boats to get home.

“It’s not isolating because within a couple of minutes you can be back on the mainland. On Wednesdays, you can even get your shopping delivered to your kitchen door.”

“It’s an ideal lifestyle. The kids make friends for life, as do the adults. We’re the luckiest group of people.”

Natalie Page and Shane O’Neill live on Scotland Island, but said they had to approach non-bank lender Pepper Money to get a loan for a home on the island.

In 2023, only 11 dwellings sold on Scotland Island making the local annual median house $1.3 million, down 7.1 per cent.

“During Covid, a lot of buyers were purchasing holiday houses rather than travelling overseas,” said Ms Marshall, adding that there had been a shift in the market since.

“It’s taken time for sellers to understand the market has now dropped back … I’d say we’re roughly back at pre-Covid prices.”

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Dennis Kennelly of LJ Hooker Palm Beach said the tables had turned for some newcomers.

“Although these areas are quite tightly held, many of the Covid purchases are coming back on the market,” he said. “Most (water access-only) pockets are seeing prices back to what they were in 2021.”

A handful of water access-only homes sold on Dangar Island along the Hawkesbury River between $740,000 and $1.89m, and in Patonga on The Central Coast between $843,000 and $2.2m.

This water access-only home in Little Wobby on the Hawkesbury recently sold for $820,000.

In the Pittwater area, six water access-only homes exchanged at Elvina Bay between $1.19m and $5.2m with one house in nearby Great Mackerel Beach sold for about $1m.

Photographers Natalie Page and Shane O’Neill live on Scotland Island and said they loved using boats to get around.

“We loved it from the beginning,” Ms Page said. “There are times you get soaked, but we love the adventure from it. It’s an amazing community.

“Most of us have our own boats but there are water taxis too. The people living here are a mix of lawyers, artists, and people running creative businesses. It’s an absolute mix.”

Ms Page and Mr O’Neill said living on Scotland Island came with its complications.

Lenders classified the area as rural real estate when they applied for a mortgage in 2016, largely because the area is located offshore from mainland Sydney.

25 Wirringulla Avenue, Elvina Bay is for sale at $1.375m. Water access only.

Residents in remote Sydney communities often use water taxis or private boats to get around.

“They were not going to give us an 85 per cent or 90 per cent loan. We needed a 20 per cent deposit and that’s what nailed us to the wall. None of the big four banks or even the non-banks would consider it.”

Ms Page added that an additional complication was that the couple were sole traders. She said it was only when a broker suggested a different lender that they made a breakthrough.

The broker suggested they approach Pepper Money, who had a different way of considering the loan compared to the major banks and approved a mortgage for their Scotland Island home.

Pepper Money CEO Mario Rehayem said coming up short when it came to deposits was a common problem – not just for those purchasing in more remote regions.

He noted a recent Money Mindset report that showed four in five aspiring home seekers felt they didn’t have enough deposit saved.