This scenic coastal city in NSW is flourishing with re-invention in the education, technology, health care and tourism sectors.
Affectionately known as The Gong, Wollongong lies 82 kilometres south of Sydney on a narrow coastal strip between the rugged Illawarra Escarpment and the sea. Coal mining attracted heavy industry to the area and consequently an influx of migrants from 70 countries since World War II. This multicultural population ensures Wollongong has a flourishing and diverse food scene, one of the city’s major attractions along with a string of 17 beautiful beaches. Offshore, lines of freighters pepper the horizon heading to or from the busy export port.
As the steel industry in Wollongong has wound back, it has been replaced by a services-based economy. A thriving university, café culture, a bustling bar and nightlife scene, healthcare and aged care have sprung up as the major players in the Illawarra region.
In 2023 Wollongong City's population was 219,600 and is forecast to grow by 23.2% to 270,500 by 2041. Much of this growth is likely to be due to people exiting Sydney because of the lack of housing affordability, traffic congestion and long commute times.
Population growth is limited in the northern suburbs due to the Illawarra Escarpment, so growth potential is mainly in the southern part of the region. The West Dapto area is a major centre of future growth with plans for 19,000 new dwellings and 50,000 more people within 40 years. New residential areas are also being developed further south around the West Dapto, Horsley and Shell Cove areas.
Wollongong has a regional airport, first class university, hospital and excellent schools. The University of Wollongong is ranked among the top two percent of universities globally and is rated as Australia’s leading public university for undergraduate experience. The university is currently planning a $250 million Health and Wellbeing precinct for its Innovation Campus, due to open in 2024. Transport links have undergone transformation with a newly opened $600 million dollar bypass of Albion Park, consisting of a 9.8km dual-lane motorway. South of Wollongong, Shell Cove continues to develop with $80 million of apartments approved for Harbour Boulevard. The revitalisation of the suburb of Port Kembla and multi-million dollar upgrades to the Blue Mile harbour foreshore are progressing to improve local amenities. Planned growth of the Port of Port Kembla is expected to create hundreds of jobs and add millions of dollars to the local economy.
Over the next 10 years, the south western catchment area is expected to grow significantly. This includes the West Dapto Urban Release, where West Dapto will grow and develop as a series of integrated communities within a spectacular landscape of lush valleys and an escarpment backdrop.
The development will include approximately 19,000 new dwellings housing over 50,000 people and will create around 8,500 jobs. New infrastructure will support this growth and two new town centres and six smaller village centres will be established. The Dapto Town Centre will grow to a sub-regional centre. At the centre of this is the suburb of Horsley which is a suburb of focus for DPN.
Property prices in the Greater Wollongong Area are lower than Sydney, with the median house price $915,000 in the suburb of Horsley, compared to $1,206,000 for Wollongong and $1,466,000 for Sydney. Over the last five years, Horsley has remarkably grown at 8.7% per annum. From an investor’s perspective, Horsley is a strong performer with 3.8% being the average rental yield and a total return of 12.2% for houses over the last 5 years.
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