Maroubra
Few Sydney beachside suburbs combine $1.78M house medians with 44.1% renter share and 48.6% apartment stock the way Maroubra does. The eastern beaches identity (Randwick LGA, postcode 2035) sits in IRSAD decile 10 and IEO decile 9, yet only 30.8% of households own outright vs 25.0% with a mortgage and 44.1% renting, a tenure mix closer to inner-city Sydney than to Coogee or Bondi. With 30,722 residents on 5.92 sqkm (5,187/sqkm), it carries roughly four times the population density of Western Sydney comparators like Liverpool or Bankstown, while household income sits in the 81.6th national percentile. Overseas-born share reaches 44.1% (22.5pp above national), university-qualified hits 53.8% (+23.7pp), and 320 development applications lodged in 12 months show the apartment pipeline is still active despite the suburb being fully built-out by Sydney standards.
Population
30,722
Median Age
39.0
Household IncomeiMedian weekly household income (ABS Census)
$2,141/wk
DAs (12 months)iDevelopment Applications lodged in the past year
347
Median House
$2.9M
12m to Jun 2026 (PSI)
Maroubra's $1,782,500 house median rose 28.3% from $1.58M (2024) to $2.03M peak in 2025, an unusually steep one-year lift even for eastern beaches stock. The catch: only 29.6% of dwellings are separate houses, so most buyers are competing for the 22.3% four-bedroom slice or stepping into 20.9% semi-detached. Apartments dominate at 48.6%, and 37.1% of all dwellings are 2-bed, which is the realistic entry product for owner-occupiers under the freestanding-house budget. Mortgage-to-income runs 32.4% (stress flag triggered), well above the 30% threshold and notably higher than the rent-to-income figure of 25.2%, meaning buyers are stretched harder than tenants here. Compared with Bankstown or Liverpool where freestanding houses still dominate and medians sit far lower, Maroubra forces a typology trade-off: beachside postcode and IRSAD decile 10 amenity, but you almost certainly buy strata not Torrens title.
For Buyers
Maroubra's $1,782,500 house median rose 28.3% from $1.58M (2024) to $2.03M peak in 2025, an unusually steep one-year lift even for eastern beaches stock. The catch: only 29.6% of dwellings are separate houses, so most buyers are competing for the 22.3% four-bedroom slice or stepping into 20.9% semi-detached. Apartments dominate at 48.6%, and 37.1% of all dwellings are 2-bed, which is the realistic entry product for owner-occupiers under the freestanding-house budget. Mortgage-to-income runs 32.4% (stress flag triggered), well above the 30% threshold and notably higher than the rent-to-income figure of 25.2%, meaning buyers are stretched harder than tenants here. Compared with Bankstown or Liverpool where freestanding houses still dominate and medians sit far lower, Maroubra forces a typology trade-off: beachside postcode and IRSAD decile 10 amenity, but you almost certainly buy strata not Torrens title.
For Investors
Renter share of 44.1% is the headline for yield-focused investors, but $540 weekly rent against a $1.78M house median pencils to roughly 1.6% gross yield, which is thin even by Sydney eastern beaches standards. The vacancy rate of 8.2% is materially higher than Sydney's metro average and signals real friction at the apartment end, where 48.6% of stock concentrates the supply. Demand drivers do exist: net overseas migration averages +416/year vs internal -220/year, so the population growth of 0.56% annually is migration-fed. Forecast rent growth is 10% across the cycle and real income growth ran 32% over the last decade, both supportive. The 320 DAs lodged in 12 months suggest continued apartment supply, which caps rent inflation. Compared with Bankstown's freestanding-house yield play, Maroubra is a capital-growth bet on lifestyle premium, not a cashflow story.
Development Activity
Total DAs
1,586
Last 12 Months
347
YoY ChangeiYear-over-year change in DA lodgements
+16.4%
Avg DA CostiAverage estimated cost per DA in the past year
N/A
Monthly DA Lodgements
DA Categories
Schools in Maroubra iICSEA: school advantage index. 1000 = national avg, higher = more advantaged
Maroubra Junction Public School
K-6 · 484 students
St Mary - St Joseph Catholic Primary School
K-6 · 388 students
Mount Sinai College
K-6 · 267 students
St Spyridon College
K-12 · 785 students
Maroubra Bay Public School
K-6 · 269 students
Demographics
Maroubra runs younger and far better educated than national norms. Median age sits at 39 (1.0 year below the national figure), university-qualified share hits 53.8% (23.7pp above national), and 44.1% of residents were born overseas (22.5pp above). Ancestry breaks 6,956 English / 6,054 Other / 3,873 Chinese / 3,545 Irish / 2,108 Greek, a wider mix than typical eastern beaches stock and a clear contrast with the more concentrated profiles of Bankstown or Liverpool. Languages spoken at home tilt European-Asian: 618 Greek, 545 Portuguese, 507 Mandarin, 497 Cantonese, 422 French. Religion shows 15,184 Christian, 1,591 Jewish, 795 Buddhist; the Jewish cohort is meaningful enough to support Mount Sinai College locally. Couples-with-children households number 9,609 vs 6,225 couples-no-kids (26.7% of families), indicating a family-skew that's stronger than inner-city beach suburbs but moderated by the apartment-heavy stock.
Age Distribution
Bedrooms
Dwelling Structure
29.6%
Houses
20.9%
Townhouse
48.6%
Apartment
Tenure
The stock split is the defining housing fact: 48.6% apartments, 29.6% separate houses, 20.9% semi-detached. Tenure runs 30.8% owned outright, 25.0% mortgaged, 44.1% rented, which is more renter-heavy than the Sydney metropolitan average and closer to Surry Hills or Newtown than to neighbouring Pagewood or Matraville. Bedrooms cluster at 2-bed (37.1%) and 3-bed (28.6%), with 22.3% at 4-bed-plus, reflecting a mix of post-war freestanding houses and decades of apartment infill. The $1.78M house median against a $2,141 weekly household income works out to a price-to-income ratio above 16x, well above the 8x national benchmark and harder than even Hurstville or Ryde. The 2024-2025 jump from $1.58M to $2.03M (peak) means recent buyers are paying near the cycle top, then reverting to $1.78M as the market normalised.
Median House Price Trend
Source: State Valuer-General (12m to Jun 2026 (PSI))
Mortgage / mo
$3,000
Rent / wkiMedian weekly rent for new bonds (January to March 2026), NSW Rental Bond Board (DCJ). Census 2021 median: $540.
$880
Bond data Mar 2026 · houses $1,400 · units $820
HH Size
2.4
Personal Income / wk
$1,026
Vacancy Ratei% of dwellings unoccupied on Census night (ABS 2021)
8.2%
Unoccupied
1,067
Rent / IncomeiMedian rent as % of household income. Over 30% = housing stress
25.2%
Mortgage / IncomeiMedian mortgage as % of household income. Over 30% = housing stress
32.4% stressed
Community Profile
Languages Spoken at Home
Ancestry
Household Composition
26.7%
Couples, no children
23,306
Total families
Economy & Employment
Maroubra's workforce concentrates in Healthcare (15.0%, 1,745 jobs), Professional/Tech (14.6%, 1,705), Education (12.0%, 1,395), Construction (9.5%) and Finance (8.8%), a distinctly white-collar mix where Healthcare leads partly because of Prince of Wales and the Randwick health/UNSW precinct next door. Occupations skew Professionals (5,105) and Managers (2,644), together more than half of all employed residents. Full-time employment rate runs 66.4% with 8,942 full-timers vs 4,529 part-timers, and unemployment sits at 5.1%. SEIFA places Maroubra in IRSAD decile 10 (top 10% nationally), IEO decile 9, IER decile 8, IRSD decile 9, the IRSAD/IRSD spread of one decile signals some pockets of disadvantage exist within an otherwise advantaged suburb, likely the older social-housing and rental clusters along the Anzac Parade corridor.
Unemployment
2.8%
Labour Force
6,058
Unemployed
171
Quarterly Trend
Source: SALM Dec-25
Socio-Economic Indexes (SEIFA)iABS index ranking suburbs from 1 (most disadvantaged) to 10 (most advantaged)
Full-time
66.4%
Part-time
28.5%
Participation
55.0%
Employed
13,471
Occupations
Top Industries
University
53.8%
Postgraduate
16.8%
Born Overseas
44.1%
Dwellings
11,977
Transport to Work
Schools are the strongest livability lever: Maroubra Junction Public (ICSEA 1128, 484 enrolled) leads the public primary tier, with St Mary-St Joseph Catholic (1109, 388), Mount Sinai College (1097, 267), and St Spyridon College (1093, 785) covering Catholic, Jewish and Greek-Orthodox independent paths. Secondary options include Corpus Christi College (1043, 755) and South Sydney High (1037, 796), all seven schools sit above the ICSEA 1000 baseline, which is rare even within Sydney's eastern beaches. Transport leans private: 74.9% drive vs only 10.1% taking public transport and 8.6% walking/cycling, reflecting the lack of heavy rail (the L2/L3 light rail terminates at Kingsford, a 15-minute bus away). IRSAD decile 10 and IEO decile 9 confirm the amenity premium, and the 5,187/sqkm density delivers walkable beach access without inner-city congestion. Community volunteering runs 13%.
Drive
74.9%
Public Transport
10.1%
Walk / Cycle
8.6%
Work from Home
N/A
Population Forecast
+0.56%/yr
(+61 people/yr)
EstablishedForecast population growth runs a slow 0.56% annually (~61 persons/year), taking the SA2 from 10,750 (2024) to roughly 11,138 by 2031, barely 3.6% over six years. The driver mix is unusual: net overseas migration averages +416/year while net internal migration runs -220/year, meaning Maroubra is losing residents to other parts of Australia but replacing them with international arrivals. COVID dipped population 6.2% before full recovery, and gentrification scores 20-30 (Early signs) with three signals: internal outflow, strong overseas inflow, and post-COVID rebound. Real income growth of 32% over a decade and rent growth of 10% support the lifestyle-premium thesis. Compared with high-growth Western Sydney corridor suburbs like Liverpool, Maroubra is firmly in the established-stable bucket, supply-constrained and incremental rather than greenfield.
Historical + Forecast
Hamilton-Perry + Holt smoothing on ERP 2001-2025
Age Cohort Forecast
Primary Driver
Overseas Migration
Net Overseas / yr
+416
Net Internal / yr
-220
Gentrification Signal
Early signs
Net internal outflow -220/yr, Strong overseas inflow +416/yr, COVID recovered (-6% dip → full recovery)
National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs
How Maroubra compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Maroubra a good suburb to live in?
For households earning above the 81.6th percentile and prioritising beach access plus strong schools (all 7 sit above ICSEA 1000), yes, Maroubra ranks IRSAD decile 10 and IEO decile 9. The trade-off is 48.6% apartment stock and a $1.78M house median that locks out most freestanding-house buyers.
What is the median house price in Maroubra?
$1,782,500 (2024-2025 PSI-derived). The market jumped 28.3% from $1.58M in 2024 to a $2.03M peak in 2025 before settling. Mortgage-to-income runs 32.4%, above the 30% stress threshold.
What schools are in Maroubra?
Seven schools: Maroubra Junction Public (ICSEA 1128, 484), St Mary-St Joseph Catholic (1109, 388), Mount Sinai College (1097, 267), St Spyridon College (1093, 785), Maroubra Bay Public (1055, 269), Corpus Christi (1043, 755), South Sydney High (1037, 796). All above ICSEA 1000.
Is Maroubra safe?
Specific BOCSAR crime-rate data is not currently in our brief, but SEIFA proxies suggest low risk: IRSAD decile 10 (top 10% nationally) and IRSD decile 9. The 1-decile gap between IRSAD and IRSD points to some pockets of disadvantage within an overall advantaged area.
Is Maroubra good for property investment?
Mixed. Renter share is high at 44.1% and overseas migration adds +416/year, but $540/week rent against the $1.78M house median is roughly 1.6% gross yield. Vacancy rate of 8.2% is elevated. It's a capital-growth play, not cashflow.
How is Maroubra's population changing?
Slow growth at 0.56% annually (~61 persons/year), forecast to reach 11,138 by 2031 from 10,750 in 2024. Internal migration is -220/year but overseas migration adds +416/year, so the suburb is internationalising even as net Australian-born flows leave.
What languages are spoken in Maroubra?
44.1% of residents were born overseas (22.5pp above national). Top home languages: Greek (618), Portuguese (545), Mandarin (507), Cantonese (497), French (422). The Greek and Jewish communities are large enough to support St Spyridon College and Mount Sinai College locally.
How much development is happening in Maroubra?
320 development applications lodged in the past 12 months, a high pipeline for a 5.92 sqkm suburb. Recent samples include CDCs for new dwellings, a swimming pool, dual occupancy and semi-detached builds, dominated by Complying Development pathway approvals.
How to read these comparisons
Phrases like "above the national average" reference the unweighted median across Australian suburbs with more than 1,000 residents, not population-weighted national figures. Suburb-level medians are more useful for ranking suburbs against each other; ABS census headlines are population-weighted (so dominated by Sydney and Melbourne) and can read very differently.
Current baseline (refreshed 2026-05-10): median age 40, university-educated 30.1%, born overseas 21.6%, average household size 2.5 people.
Data sources: ABS 2021 Census (demographics, income, tenure), state Valuer-General (house prices), Department of Jobs SALM (unemployment), ACARA (school ICSEA), state Crime Statistics agencies (offences), council DA portals (development applications). Population forecasts use a Hamilton-Perry cohort model calibrated to ABS ERP.
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