New South Wales suburb and city guides
Local guides to buying and borrowing in New South Wales. Each one covers who lives there, the types of homes, what lenders look at and the costs to plan for. Time Home Loans is based in Brisbane and works with buyers in New South Wales by phone and video.
Lake Macquarie is a city of more than 213,000 people wrapped around Australia's largest coastal lake, just south of Newcastle. It's a house market. In the…
Read the Lake Macquarie guideMaitland is a Hunter Valley city on the Hunter River, about 35 km north-west of Newcastle. The Maitland local government area had 90,226 residents in the…
Read the Maitland guideNewcastle sits at the mouth of the Hunter River, about 162 km north-north-east of Sydney. Across the Newcastle and Maitland urban area 508,437 people were counted…
Read the Newcastle guideAlbury sits on the Murray River on the NSW side of the border, about 554 km south-west of Sydney and 326 km from Melbourne. Wodonga is…
Read the Albury guideBallina sits at the mouth of the Richmond River on the NSW North Coast, about 185 km south of Brisbane. The Ballina urban area takes in…
Read the Ballina guideDubbo is the main regional city of central-western NSW, about 400 km north-west of Sydney by road. The Macquarie River runs through it and the Newell,…
Read the Dubbo guideGoulburn is a regional city on the Southern Tablelands, about 195 km south-west of Sydney and 90 km north-east of Canberra. In the 2021 Census the…
Read the Goulburn guideGrafton is the Jacaranda City, on the Clarence River about 620 km north of Sydney by road and about 315 km south of Brisbane. It's a…
Read the Grafton guideLismore is the main inland city of the NSW Northern Rivers, on the Wilsons River about 200 km south of Brisbane. In the 2021 Census 77.2%…
Read the Lismore guideOrange is a regional city on the Central Tablelands, about 254 km west of Sydney and 862 m above sea level. The Orange urban area was…
Read the Orange guideTamworth is the main city of the New England region, on the Peel River about 420 km north of Sydney. It's a house market. In the…
Read the Tamworth guideWagga Wagga is one of the largest inland cities in NSW, about 452 km south-west of Sydney and 244 km west of Canberra. The Murrumbidgee River…
Read the Wagga Wagga guideArncliffe is a busy, mixed suburb about 11 km south of the Sydney CBD, close to Sydney Airport. In the 2021 Census 48.4% of homes were…
Read the Arncliffe guideBalgowlah sits above North Harbour, next to Manly and about 12 km north-east of the Sydney CBD. It's a mixed market. In the 2021 Census 40.3%…
Read the Balgowlah guideBalmain is a harbourside suburb on a peninsula about 5 km west of the Sydney CBD by road. It's a terrace and apartment suburb. In the…
Read the Balmain guideBankstown is the main centre of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, about 19 km south-west of the Sydney CBD. It's one of the most diverse places in…
Read the Bankstown guideBaulkham Hills sits in Sydney's Hills District, about 28 km north-west of the CBD. Its name dates from 1802 and its streets grew quickly from the…
Read the Baulkham Hills guideBella Vista sits in Sydney's Hills District, about 33 km north-west of the CBD. Farmland until the mid-1990s, it's now a suburb of large family homes…
Read the Bella Vista guideThe Blue Mountains council area strings a chain of towns along the ridge from Glenbrook to Mount Victoria, with Katoomba about 102 km west of Sydney…
Read the Blue Mountains guideCabramatta is about 30 km south-west of the Sydney CBD and is known across Sydney for its food and markets. Its housing is an even mix.…
Read the Cabramatta guideCammeray is a lower North Shore suburb about 5 km north of the Sydney CBD, running down to Middle Harbour. In the 2021 Census 59.6% of…
Read the Cammeray guideCampsie is a busy apartment suburb about 13 km south-west of the Sydney CBD, built around the Beamish Street shopping strip. In the 2021 Census 67.1%…
Read the Campsie guideCastle Hill is the commercial heart of Sydney's Hills District, about 32 km north-west of the CBD. It began as a government farm in 1801 and…
Read the Castle Hill guideChatswood is a major centre on Sydney's lower North Shore, about 10 km north of the Sydney CBD. It was home to 25,553 people in the…
Read the Chatswood guideCoogee is a beachside suburb about 8 km south-east of the Sydney CBD in the City of Randwick. It's a unit market. In the 2021 Census…
Read the Coogee guideCronulla is a beachside suburb about 26 km south of the Sydney CBD in the Sutherland Shire. It's a unit market. In the 2021 Census 72.5%…
Read the Cronulla guideDrummoyne sits between Iron Cove and the Parramatta River, about 6 km west of the Sydney CBD. It's an apartment suburb with a house market alongside…
Read the Drummoyne guideEarlwood is a hilly suburb about 10 km south-west of the Sydney CBD. It runs from the southern bank of the Cooks River to the northern…
Read the Earlwood guideSydney's Inner West runs west from the CBD between the Parramatta River and the Cooks River. This guide uses the Inner West Council area, home to…
Read the Inner West guideLakemba is a suburb about 12 km south-west of the Sydney CBD in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown. It's mostly a unit market. In the 2021 Census…
Read the Lakemba guideLidcombe is about 15 km west of the Sydney CBD and its station is an important rail junction. In the 2021 Census 44.6% of homes were…
Read the Lidcombe guideLindfield is on Sydney's upper North Shore, about 13 km from the CBD on the North Shore railway line. It's a suburb of two halves. In…
Read the Lindfield guideManly sits on a narrow strip between Sydney Harbour and the Pacific Ocean, about 17 km north-east of the Sydney CBD. It's a unit market. In…
Read the Manly guideMarrickville is the largest suburb in Sydney's Inner West Council area, about 7 km south-west of the CBD. It sits on the Cooks River and under…
Read the Marrickville guideMiranda is the commercial heart of the Sutherland Shire, about 24 km south of the Sydney CBD. It's known for Westfield Miranda and its station on…
Read the Miranda guideThe North Shore runs from the harbour at North Sydney up the railway line to Hornsby, between the Lane Cove River and Middle Harbour. The ABS…
Read the North Shore guideNorth Sydney is a high-rise office centre and a residential suburb about 3 km north of the Sydney CBD, just across the Harbour Bridge. It's an…
Read the North Sydney guideThe Northern Beaches runs from Manly to Palm Beach, between the Pacific and Middle Harbour, Pittwater and Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. The council area was home…
Read the Northern Beaches guideParramatta is Sydney's second CBD, about 24 km west of the city centre on the Parramatta River. In the 2021 Census about two in three homes…
Read the Parramatta guidePennant Hills is a leafy suburb about 18 km north-west of the Sydney CBD, between Lane Cove National Park and Berowra Valley National Park. In the…
Read the Pennant Hills guidePenrith sits on the eastern bank of the Nepean River, about 55 km west of the Sydney CBD. It's the main centre of western Sydney's outer…
Read the Penrith guidePotts Point is a harbourside suburb about 2 km east of the Sydney CBD. It has the highest concentration of Art Deco architecture in Australia. In…
Read the Potts Point guideRosebery is an inner southern suburb about 6 km south of the Sydney CBD. It has two sides. North of Gardeners Road is a garden suburb…
Read the Rosebery guideRouse Hill is in Sydney's north-west, about 43 km from the CBD. It has roots going back to 1813 and is now one of Sydney's newer…
Read the Rouse Hill guideSutherland Shire covers 370 km2 of Sydney's south, between Botany Bay, the Georges River and Royal National Park. Locals call it the Shire. In the 2021…
Read the Sutherland Shire guideGreater Sydney is home to more than 5.2 million people (5,231,147 in the 2021 Census) spread across 33 local councils. It's a city of contrasts. Close…
Read the Sydney guideThe Ponds is a planned suburb in Sydney's north-west, about 38 km from the CBD. It only became a suburb in 2007 and almost every home…
Read the The Ponds guideWestern Sydney stretches from Parramatta out to the Blue Mountains and down to the Macarthur region. It takes in about 11 councils and more than two…
Read the Western Sydney guideMore areas are being added. If the one you're looking at isn't here yet, we're happy to talk it through.
Lenders look at your income, expenses, debts and deposit. Getting pre-approval before you start inspecting gives you a working budget.
Unit size, building type, heritage controls and flood or bushfire overlays can all affect which lenders will lend and how much. The local council's planning scheme is a good place to start.
Besides your deposit, allow for stamp duty, conveyancing, building and pest inspections and lenders mortgage insurance if you're borrowing more than 80% of the value. Stamp duty and first home buyer concessions differ between states.
Most lenders apply the same credit policy across Australia, so a Brisbane broker can compare options for a purchase anywhere in the country. Location still matters for valuations and some postcodes.
Talk it through with us before you sign a contract. We work with buyers by phone and video and can check the property you're looking at against lender policy.
General information only. This page provides general information and doesn't take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider whether it's appropriate for you and seek advice before making a decision.
Time Home Loans Pty Ltd ACN 161 695 012, Credit Representative 529395 is authorised under Australian Credit Licence 384324.
