The myriad wonders of Wahroonga

If you could imagine a place where people buy homes and hardly ever leave such is the community atmosphere and the sheer beauty of the landscape, then this may well be it.

The Upper North Shore suburb of Wahroonga is not only all those things and more, but it is one of those magical locations that ticks every box from a property investment perspective.

And when I say property investment, I don’t mean a dwelling that you will rent to tenants. I mean a home that will always be in superior demand from prospective buyers, which underpins strong capital growth over your many years of ownership.

It’s little surprise, then, that Wahroonga is believed to be an indigenous word meaning “our home”.

One of the myriad wonders of Wahroonga is its landscape, which is more English countryside than a suburb less than 20 kilometres from the centre of the Harbour City.

Think majestic homes on large, leafy blocks, and you can paint a picture of what this slice of real estate heaven looks like.

Even the commercial hub that features cafes and restaurants is reminiscent of a quaint English village.

The predominant dwelling type is houses on big blocks, where growing families have plenty of room to play and entertain.

Even when children have finished their education at such prestigious schools as Knox Grammar School and Abbotsleigh School for Girls and perhaps leave home, few homeowners sell.

High demand but low supply

Wahroonga is an aspirational suburb that plenty of home buyers desire to purchase in, but it is never an easy thing for them to achieve.

One of the reasons why is because a high percentage of homeowners are long-term residents.

In fact, in the neighbourhood surrounding one of the suburb’s most desirable streets, Illoura Avenue, about 50 per cent of residents are classed as long-term. In other neighbourhoods, the percentage of long-term residents can be as high as 70 or 80 per cent.

The fact that when people purchase a home in Wahroonga, they lay down roots, often for generations, is the reason why there are currently only 62 houses for sale in the suburb – a number so low that competition is always fierce for every listing.

As well as all the attributes I’ve listed above, Wahroonga is an ideal location for outstanding capital growth because there is an above average percentage of homeowners that live there.

According to research, 83 per cent of its residents are homeowners, with the average age between 40 to 59 years of age. About 60 per cent of residents are families as well.

Given it is only about 45 minutes from the Sydney CBD, as well as on the train-line, the suburb is also surprising because it predominantly remains a place of freestanding homes and cottages.

The most in-demand homes are generally located east of the Pacific Highway, but every part of the suburb always has more buyer demand than supply of properties available.

Homeowners love their neighbourhood so much that we recently assisted a client to purchase a new home a mere two streets away from their current property!

We were able to use our significant local agent networks to enable them to be the successful purchaser of the property, when they probably would have struggled to do so themselves.

I believe it is in suburbs such as Wahroonga that the skills and experience of professional buyers’ agents really come to the fore, because we have the contacts to learn about off-market properties but also to help our clients secure a seat at the negotiation table at all.