Two Illawarra suburbs have been named among NSW's top 20 "family housing" markets, based on criteria such as price point and quality of schools in the area.
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Mount Keira (No.6) and Cordeaux Heights (No.17) were the Illawarra suburbs to make the list.
New research commissioned by Well Home Loans has identified what they say are the top 20 family housing markets in NSW.
According to the research, a "family suburb" is one that meets five key indicators:
*Median sale price between $200,000 and $1.5 million.
*Owner-occupiers making up at least 70 per cent of the local population.
*Freestanding houses making up at least 60 per cent of the local dwellings.
*Family households making up at least 60 per cent of the local population (with a 'family household' being one with at least 2.5 people).
*A SEIFA education and occupation score of at least 6. A SEIFA education score is based on the SEIFA Index of Education and Occupation. If a suburb has a score of at least 6, it means it's in the top half of the country for educational and occupational status.
The suburbs are then ranked based on historical NAPLAN results for schools in the wider area.
Mount Keira
Anthony Sorace from A-List Property Group said in Mount Keira you were "surrounded by some beautiful schools and homes".
Mount Keira has a SEIFA education score of 10.
Mr Sorace said the suburb had been popular among buyers in recent times, with plenty of inquiry from areas such as the Sutherland Shire, including buyers in their late 20s/early 30's.
He said it offered "plenty of bang for their buck" in terms of quality of homes, block sizes and location.
"The homes in Mount Keira, you do get a good quality build, larger family homes," he said.
"It's in a suburb where it's a 2500 postcode, so you're still part of Wollongong, but just on the outskirts.
"You've still got easy access to the freeway, and the choice of going into Wollongong CBD or Figtree for shopping.
"And people love the escarpment views as well."
Cordeaux Heights
Victor Shalala from MMJ Real Estate Wollongong has lived in Cordeaux Heights for 17 years.
Mr Shalala said it was a "true family suburb", which offered convenience, "multiple reputable schools" and shopping facilities in nearby Unanderra.
"We are seeing a fair bit of turnover in Cordeaux at the moment," he said.
"That is due to the age of the [residents in the] suburb. We're finding that the original people who bought in and built their homes here 30-35 years ago, when they were probably in their 20's or 30's, over time those families have moved out and downsized.
"They've taken the next step in their lives, and the next family's moving in."
The suburb has a SEIFA education score of 8.
Analysis
Well Home Loans CEO Scott Spencer said this family suburb ranking provides valuable information for families that are planning their next purchase.
"Families want to live in suburbs that have lots of other families to socialise with, a high share of owner-occupiers to provide stability and good schools to educate their children," he said.
"They also want to buy into suburbs that are likely to enjoy reasonable capital growth over the long-term, even if it's not necessarily market-beating growth.
"The 20 suburbs in this ranking are generally affordable - 13 of them have a median house price under $1 million. They're also quite diverse - nine of the locations are in Sydney and another 11 in regional markets."
The report's data comes from property research consultancy Suburbtrends.
The median sale price figures are based on results over the 12 months to November 2021.
Other data, such as average household weekly income is in accordance with the most recently published Census.