Ettalong Beach
Ettalong Beach is a captivating, flat and walkable suburb on the Central Coast, offering a diverse real estate landscape and a thriving community. The suburb's town centre hosts a mix of shops, cafes, restaurants and boutiques, creating a lively atmosphere, and residents can relish the coastal lifestyle with leisurely waterside walks, swims and other water activities. The suburb is home to a small boat ramp, where you'll often find people boating and jet skiing on the weekends.
At a glance
- Population: 5,161
- Area size: 1.78 km²
- Median weekly household income: $1,201
- Median monthly mortgage repayments: $2,299
Living on the Central Coast
What it's like to live in Ettalong Beach
Ettalong Beach is a compact, densely populated suburb of just over 5,100 people across 1.78 square kilometres, about 40 kilometres from the Sydney CBD. Population has grown steadily and consistently since 2001, from 4,073 to 5,161 in 2021, without the dips some neighbouring suburbs have seen.
Population & Household Growth Over Time
| 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,073 | 4,208 | 4,628 | 4,793 | 5,161 |
| Median weekly household income | No data | $592 | $721 | $867 | $1,077 |
| Medial Monthly Mortgage Repayments | No data | $1,300 | $1,600 | $1,517 | $1,950 |
| Percentage of Owner Occupier | 58% | 51% | 57% | 57% | 59% |
| Percentage of Renter | 42% | 49% | 43% | 43% | 41% |
| Total Dwellings | 2,340 | 2,421 | 2,739 | 2,801 | 3,038 |
| Average People per Household | No data | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 1.9 |
Owner-occupiers currently make up 59% of households, with renters at 41%. That's a meaningful recovery from 2006, when renters briefly made up nearly half of all households (49%), and it's worth keeping in mind for anyone weighing up the local rental market alongside buying. Unlike many Central Coast beach suburbs, Ettalong Beach has a genuinely mixed dwelling stock: 52.5% separate houses, 35.4% townhouses and similar, and 8.1% flats or apartments, reflecting the suburb's cluster of waterfront unit developments.
The leading occupations locally are Professionals (20%), Technicians and Trades Workers (14%) and Clerical and Administrative Workers (14%). The top employing industries are Aged Care Residential Services, Hospitals (excluding psychiatric) and Other Social Assistance Services, a skew towards health and aged care that's common in this part of the Central Coast.
Housing options for owner-occupiers
Ettalong Beach caters to a genuinely wide range of buyers, with waterfront apartments along The Esplanade, a solid share of townhouses, and family-friendly standalone homes further back from the water. It's one of the more dwelling-diverse suburbs on this stretch of coast, with meaningfully more townhouses and units than many neighbouring beach suburbs, which gives buyers more entry points at different price points. Some genuinely premium waterfront properties do come to market here, though the suburb overall sits at a more accessible price point than its water frontage might suggest.
Current property snapshot (October 2026)
| Metric | Houses | Units |
|---|---|---|
| Median Price | $1,309,000 | $1,025,000 |
| Median Rent (per week) | $650 | $640 |
| Typical time to sell | ~47 days | ~62 days |
| Gross rental yield | 2.58% | 3.25% |
How Prices Have Moved Over Time (Houses)
| Period | Change |
|---|---|
| 3 Months | 0.69% ($9,000) |
| 12 Months | 4.72% ($59,000) |
| 3 Years | 13.01% ($150,660) |
| 5 Years | 23.49% ($249,000) |
| 5-year average annual growth | 4.31% |
| 10-year average annual growth | 7.09% |
| 20-year average annual growth | 6.88% |
| 30-year average annual growth | 8.11% |
Renting in Ettalong Beach
Median rent for a house in Ettalong Beach is $650 a week, flat over the past quarter but up 3.17% over the year and a strong 44.44% over five years. Units sit at $640 a week, up 1.59% over the quarter, down slightly (-1.54%) over the year, and up 42.22% over five years.
Schools
Public schools: Ettalong Beach has one government primary school within the suburb, Ettalong Public School. For high school, properties are zoned for Brisbane Water Secondary College, with the Umina Campus covering Years 7 to 10 and the Woy Woy Campus covering Years 11 and 12.
Health and everyday amenities
Woy Woy Public Hospital, just next door, is the main public hospital servicing the area. Day-to-day needs are otherwise well covered locally in the Ettalong Beach town centre, with a supermarket, specialty shops, cafes, restaurants and boutiques all close at hand.
An affordable, water's-edge neighbourhood
Ettalong Beach's SEIFA scores (the ABS's measure of relative socio-economic advantage) have sat below the mid-point of the scale across every Census since 2001, though they've been trending upward, reaching their highest level yet in 2021. That tracks with the income data: median weekly household income nearly doubled from $592 in 2006 to $1,077 by the 2021 Census, with the current estimate now at $1,201 a week. Public and community housing is negligible here, just 0.39% of dwellings (12 properties), so this isn't a due diligence flag the way it can be in some other suburbs.
Getting around
Ettalong Beach's proximity to Woy Woy train station makes commuting to Sydney seamless, with the station just a five minute car trip away. The Ettalong Beach ferry wharf also connects to Palm Beach multiple times a day, appealing to those seeking both a coastal retreat and Sydney access. The M1 motorway, which links to both Sydney and Newcastle, is a 20 minute drive away.
Our local favourite
A Sharp Property Buyers recommendation in Ettalong Beach is Osteria il Coccia, a restaurant experience unlike any other on the Central Coast. If you're looking for more recommendations, see this blog.
Ettalong Beach offers a rare mix of waterside lifestyle, a lively town centre and genuinely diverse housing options. If you're ready to make the move to Ettalong Beach, contact our buyers agent team today and find out why we're the most highly rated buyers agent team in Ettalong Beach.
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