While speaking to the Mercury about the benefits of life in Windang, Denise Searl joked that she shouldn't boast too much about the southern Illawarra suburb.
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"It's flat, you can walk places, you've got the lake, the beach," she said. "It's great if you love fishing.
"We've got everything we need here - it's close to Stockland Shellharbour, Warrawong, and Sydney if you need to catch a plane.
"But we don't want to tell anyone about it as then they'll all come here," she laughed.
The suburb has long been a popular holiday spot and location for over-50s retirement/lifestyle communities.
Mrs Searl has lived in Windang for 49 years, while her husband Wayne was born there. Their son also lives in the suburb.
"You'll find that many families who live here, stay here," she said. "We've got the beach, the lake, you can walk a lot of places and it's nice and flat."
Mrs Searl said many of the older homes in Windang were being renovated, or knocked down and rebuilt.
Currently living on Waratah Street, the Searls plan to downsize. They will undertake a knockdown-rebuild elsewhere in Windang, creating a duplex near the water which they'll share with their son and his family.
According to CoreLogic, the median sales price of houses in the area is $912,000.
The median sales price in Windang increased from $720,000 in July 2020 to $912,000 a year later.
Mrs Searl said the suburb was in the sights of cashed-up Sydney buyers nowadays. "The prices have skyrocketed, which is a shame for the young ones trying to get ahead these days."
Kim Kelly, co-owner of Windang Road's Oh Dang! Espresso cafe has lived in Windang for five years, and operated the business in the suburb for four years.
She said Windang was an ideal location to operating such a business, as being located between Shellharbour and Wollongong ensured they attracted plenty of early morning commuters.
She said there were a lot of young families moving into the area, as well as plenty of renovation activity.
Mrs Kelly said she loved the suburb's community spirit, and how "people here are relaxed and friendly".
"It's a fantastic place to live - it's within walking distance of everything, it's a community feel, and the people are great," she said.
"You've got the ocean, lake, bike tracks, everything - and everything is within walking distance. Everything is so close and accessible, and it's family-friendly.
"There's a lot of community spirit. Everyone's here to support each other, and they've been great and really supportive during lockdown, and since we've re-opened."
Read more: Property Suburb in the Spotlight: Gerringong
Windang is indeed proving a winner among families, such as Erica Williams, husband Dale Ingle and their 13-year-old daughter, Darcy.
They had previously lived near Liverpool, before relocating to Windang nearly six years ago.
"My husband grew up in Cronulla, and after years of living in the city and the suburbs, he wanted to get back to the water," Mrs Williams said.
"But knowing that we'd never be able to afford Cronulla, we started looking down south.
"Initially, we thought Windang would be too far as we were both working in Campbelltown... We were looking in the Figtree, West Wollongong area, and we kept seeing this house come up in Windang, and it basically ticked every box we wanted.
"Four bedrooms, two living areas and a pool - it was basically our wish list. And we realised it wasn't that far (compared to) what we initially thought for commuting."
Mrs Williams said they "had not regretted it a day since we moved down here".
"We're two hundred metres from the lake, [we've] got all the lovely walking paths, swimming at the lake and the beach.
"It's such a small, lovely suburb. My daughter is now growing up in this lovely community which we would have never had."
Mrs Williams said the lifestyle changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic meant more people were working from home, which likely meant more buyers, especially those priced out of the Sydney market, would be looking further south and considering suburbs like Windang that they may not have previously.
Market overview
Daniel Ellem from Illawarra Estate Agents said Windang was recently attracting Sydney buyers, as well as some from the Kiama LGA.
"Down in places like Gerringong and Gerroa, over the past two or three months they have been getting massive prices," he said.
"They're actually coming north... We used to be driven by the Sydney market, but now Windang is kind of getting squashed in the middle by both northern and southern buyers, which has been great.
"Whether you're interested in the lake or the ocean, you're only a few hundred metres away at the most. And you're still centrally located, whether you want to head to Shellharbour or Wollongong."
Jordan Andonovski from The Agency Illawarra said Windang's market was appealing to a lot of downsizers, especially those from out of the area.
He said this was because it was still affordable for that demographic, who liked that it was close to the water, and enjoyed flat level walking to amenities.
"Families also want to be there as it's so close to the beach," Mr Andonovski said.
Mr Andonovski said some local buyers were probably being priced out of Windang. Meanwhile, others who were perhaps being priced out of the Illawarra's northern suburbs or the likes of Shellharbour Village were also looking at Windang.
For sale
Recent sales in Windang include 3 Hartley Close for $1.43 million; 76 Kruger Avenue for $780,000; and 41 Ocean Street for $1.7 million.
Mr Ellem is the selling agent for 50 Oakland Avenue, Windang.
The five-bedroom, three-bathroom home has a price guide of $1.65 million.
The residence is only a short walk to the Lake Illawarra foreshore, Windang boat ramp and close to the beach.
The pool is newly renovated featuring night lights, a fountain and spa.
Mr Ellem said it was "probably the best house I've seen in Windang - it's amazing", and had attracted plenty of local interest.
Also on the market is 4 Fern Street, Windang.
The three-bedroom, one-bathroom home sits on 417 square metres.
The single-level beach home is located across from the waters of Lake Illawarra's entrance.
It features open renovated interiors, undercover area, wrap-around decking and shed/outhouse with amenities.
The selling agent is Adam Martin from MMJ South - Windang.