Sunshine Bay

Development Activity

Demographics

The median age of 56 is 16.0 years above the national figure, making Sunshine Bay one of the older communities on the South Coast. This aging profile is partly structural: 45.8% of families are couples without children, and the average household size of 2.1 is 0.4 below national. Overseas-born residents account for 18.6%, which is 3.0 percentage points below the national average, and ancestry is strongly Anglo-Celtic: English (628), Irish (191) and Scottish (141) are the three largest groups. University qualifications at 19.2% sit 10.9 percentage points below the national rate, consistent with the IEO decile 5 score for education and occupation. A volunteering rate of 16.3% is solid for the community size.

Tenure tells a strong ownership story: 52.1% own outright, 22.7% hold a mortgage and 25.2% rent, putting outright owners at more than double renters. That ratio is far above national norms and reflects the older resident base reaching the end of their mortgage lifecycle. The stock is almost entirely separate houses at 78.8%, with semi-detached at 13.2% and apartments at 3.9%. Four-plus bedroom homes account for 42.7% of dwellings. Median price fell 14.7% from $835,000 in 2024 to $712,500 in 2025 on the PSI measure, bringing it below the peak seen a year prior. The 16.9% vacancy rate is high compared to residential suburb benchmarks, consistent with short-term holiday letting.

Community Profile

Economy & Employment

Healthcare is the dominant industry at 26.2% of employed residents (81 workers), nearly double its share nationally, which reflects both local service demand from an aging population and employment in nearby regional health facilities. Construction follows at 13.6% and Public Administration at 12.0%. The participation rate of 40.2% is low nationally because a large share of residents are retired: 634 people are not in the labour force from a population of 1,439. The unemployment rate of 5.6% is above the national average among those who are participating. Household income sits at the 21.2nd percentile nationally, below average despite a house price above $700,000, because many residents are asset-rich retirees on fixed incomes. The IRSD decile 2 and IRSAD decile 4 scores confirm below-average socioeconomic advantage.

Transport to Work

Car dependence is very high: 88.3% of residents drive to work, far above national averages, and just 1.2% use public transport, which reflects the coastal location away from major transit corridors. Walking and cycling account for only 1.0%. No schools are recorded within the suburb boundary, so families rely on schools in nearby centres. Crime data is not available in this dataset, but the IRSD decile 2 ranking places the suburb in the lower advantage tier nationally. Housing stress affects both renters (rent-to-income at 32.5%, above the 30% threshold) and mortgage holders (mortgage-to-income at 33.5%), despite the asset-rich ownership profile. The 8.0% of residents needing daily assistance (110 people) is above average, consistent with a median age of 56.

Population Forecast

Population growth runs at 0.56% per year, adding roughly 57 people annually, which is modest but consistent. Medium forecasts project the broader area reaching around 10,532 by 2031 from a 2025 base of 10,151. The 10-year population change of 6.9% reflects steady accumulation. The unusual migration pattern sees overseas inflows averaging 344 per year while internal migration produces a net outflow of 247, suggesting that departing younger residents are being replaced by overseas arrivals. The gentrification score reads as not gentrifying (score 10), consistent with a stable, older resident base. Real income growth of 39.7% over the decade and rent growth of 30.8% indicate that economic conditions have improved faster than the seifa decile 2 ranking might suggest.

National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs

How Sunshine Bay compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs

Frequently Asked Questions