Free market report · Data to July 2026
Willoughby property market
Willoughby is one of the 453 council areas we track on the Momentum Dial, our property clock. This page is the plain-numbers read: where it sits in the cycle, who lives there, what's being built, and the suburbs inside it.
Willoughby is home to 80,520 people. On the Buyers First Momentum Dial its house market currently reads Rising, while units read Recovering. Same council, different clocks, which is exactly why we track them separately. Worth knowing up front: this is one of the most socio-economically advantaged councils in the country, which shows up in its prices. Here's the rest of the picture, in plain numbers.
Houses · cycle position
Rising
The Willoughby house market is accelerating. Growth is building pace rather than fading, which is the phase most investors wish they had caught in hindsight.
-3% to +8%
Modelled 12-month price range
+1.3%
Modelled 12-month rent change
Units · cycle position
Recovering
The unit market is still soft, but the rate of decline is easing. Recoveries start exactly here, though not every easing turns into one.
-2% to +6%
Modelled 12-month price range
+4.0%
Modelled 12-month rent change
At a glance · houses
$3,810,700
Typical house, August 2026
+5.6% a year since 2010
+3.3%
Growth a year, last 10 years
+1.4% a year over the last 5
$1,325
Rent a week
1.8% gross yield
2 of 15
Years prices fell since 2010
Worst: 2018, -9%
The clock measures growth momentum, not price. Peak means growing fastest, not about to fall. Cycle data and projections sourced from HtAG Analytics. See Willoughby on the clock.
Free · One per person
Want all of this written up for Willoughby?
The full report is this data as a written document, plus the current price, rent, yield and growth on one suburb inside Willoughby, and the numbers that cut against the area. I write them by hand, so it comes from me rather than out of a system.
The numbers, explained
Willoughby in charts.
The typical house in Willoughby went from $1,537,377 in 2010 to $3,810,700 in August 2026. That is +148% in total, +5.6% a year. 2 down years out of 15, never more than 1 in a row. Cycles, not collapses.
Houses · price change each year · 2011 to 2026
Prices in Willoughby fell in 2 of the last 15 years
+148%
Since 2010
+3.3%
Per year, last 10 years
2 of 15
Years going backwards
-8.8%
Worst year (2018)
What this shows. How much the typical house price in Willoughby went up or down each year. Teal bars are up years, red bars are down years, and the faded bar is this year so far.
Why it matters. The size of a good year matters less than how many bad years there were and whether they came in a row. Boring? Absolutely. But the length of the down stretch is what decides whether you get out the other side. Typical price at December each year, data from HtAG Analytics.
You don't need to know property to read this. Every chart below opens with the point in one line, then says what it shows and why we care. Teal is a good sign, amber is okay, red means watch it.
The scorecard · 7 things we check
Willoughby scores 22 out of 35. Mixed.
prices are rising and speeding up
2 of 15 years
0.6 new homes approved per 100 that exist
population growing 0.5% a year
3.7% unemployed, Australia 4.2%
a house costs 24.1 years of a local household's income
1.5% of rentals are empty, so about 2 in every 100
What this shows. Seven quick checks on Willoughby, each scored out of five. Five is the reading we most want to see.
Why it matters. No single number tells you whether an area is a good buy. Together they show whether the pieces line up. These are bands, not rules: a council outside a band can still be the right buy for the right person, and one inside every band can still be wrong for you.
House prices since 2010 · Willoughby vs the 5 most similar councils in NSW
Willoughby has grown more slowly than similar councils over ten years
+1.4% vs +1.6%
A year, last 5 years
+3.3% vs +4.0%
A year, last 10 years
+5.8% vs +5.0%
A year, last 15 years
What this shows. The typical house price in Willoughby every year, in teal, next to the middle of the five councils in NSW closest to it in size and starting price: North Sydney, Waverley, Canada Bay, Woollahra, Ku-ring-gai. The small "vs" number in each tile is those councils.
Why it matters. Sometimes a slower market is catching up, sometimes it is being passed. The jobs and supply readings on this page tell you which.
Momentum · the last 36 months
Prices in Willoughby are moving at a steady pace
$3,810,090
3-month price, August 2026
-0.7%
3-month price vs 12-month price
538 vs 655
Houses sold, last 12 months vs the 12 before
What this shows. Two versions of the same price. The dotted teal line averages the last three months, so it reacts fast. The grey line averages the last twelve, so it moves slowly. The bars are how many houses sold each month.
Why it matters. The three-month and twelve-month prices are moving together. No acceleration either way.
New homes · approvals as a share of all the homes here
Not many new homes are being built in Willoughby
What this shows. For every 100 homes already in Willoughby, how many new ones the council approved each year. The teal band is the range we call balanced.
Why it matters. Fewer new homes means the ones that exist stay in demand. It can also mean building here is hard or slow, which cuts the same way. The home count is the population divided by the average household size, so treat the rate as a guide rather than a census.
Affordability · house price in years of local household income
A house in Willoughby costs 24.1 years of a local family's income
What this shows. Take the typical house price and divide it by what a typical household here earns in a year. A bar of 7 means seven years of the whole household's income buys one house.
Why it matters. Expensive for the people who live here. Prices at this level need outside buyers to keep moving, and outside buyers are the first to leave when things wobble. Income is the 2021 Census figure carried forward at 3.5% a year, so it is an estimate, not a measurement.
Rents · typical weekly house rent, last 36 months · and how many rentals sit empty
Rent in Willoughby is $1,325 a week, up 6.8% in a year
$1,325
A week, August 2026
+6.8%
Change in the last year
1.5%
Rentals sitting empty (balanced)
What this shows. What a typical house in Willoughby rents for each week, month by month. The empty-rentals number is the share of rental homes with nobody in them: under 1.5% is tight, over 3% means tenants have plenty of choice.
Why it matters. Rents rising faster than inflation means more people want to live here than there are homes to rent. That pressure eventually shows up in prices.
Rental yield · a year of rent as a share of the price, Willoughby vs similar councils
Rent covers 1.8% of the price each year in Willoughby
What this shows. Yield is simple: a whole year of rent divided by the house price. A $500,000 house renting for $500 a week earns $26,000 a year, which is a 5.2% yield.
Why it matters. About the same as similar councils. Rent and price are in proportion. We don't buy on yield alone and we never set a yield cut-off; it is one piece of the picture, next to growth.
The people
Who lives in Willoughby.
Population growth has been close to flat over the last five years, +0.5% a year. Interesting mix underneath: locals have been leaving on net (-3,402 over three years) while overseas migration more than filled the gap (7,801). Worth understanding who is arriving and what housing they need. The median age is 39 and the median household brings in $2,556 a week (Census 2021). 38% of households rent, a deep tenant pool if you're buying to hold, and more investor competition when stock is tight.
Population · ABS estimates 2015 to 2025
Willoughby has stopped growing: 80,520 people, +0.5% a year
80,520
People, 2025
+0.5% vs +0.6%
A year, last 5 years · typical NSW council
+0.6%
A year, last 10 years
Why it matters. With few new arrivals, demand here comes from locals moving house, not from growth. Prices can still rise, but they lean on other drivers.
Where the growth came from · last 3 years
Overseas arrivals are doing the heavy lifting in Willoughby: 7,801 in three years
Net change: +4,860 people over three years.
What this shows. Three ways a place gains or loses people: babies born minus people who died, people who moved here from another part of Australia, and people who arrived from overseas. Bars to the right add people, bars to the left take them away.
Why it matters. Overseas arrivals usually rent first, so this kind of growth shows up in rents before it shows up in prices.
Age and households · Census 2021
Willoughby is younger than the typical NSW council: median age 39 vs 42
Willoughby Typical NSW council (middle of 122)
Why it matters. A younger area means first-home buyers, growing families and renters. Three-bedroom houses near schools and jobs are the bread and butter.
Income and who owns the homes · Census 2021
Willoughby is a renters' market: 38% of homes are rented, vs 25% in the typical NSW council
Own or paying off Renting Other
Why it matters. Lots of renters means a deep tenant pool if you are buying to hold, and more investor competition when stock is tight.
New supply
What's being approved to build.
176 dwellings were approved in FY26, 74 of them houses. Approvals have been roughly steady year to year. On the non-residential side, $1.1 billion of building was approved in FY26, $2 million of it public money. Governments build where they expect people. Within that, $42 million of education and health buildings have been approved across the last three financial years. Schools and hospitals are the most honest signal governments give about where they expect families.
Homes approved · ABS, by financial year
Not much new is being built in Willoughby: 176 homes approved in FY26
Houses Units, townhouses and other
176
Homes approved, FY26
42%
Of them houses
0.6%
New homes per 100 that exist
What this shows. How many new homes the council approved each financial year, split into houses and everything else. Approved is not built, but it is the earliest warning of supply on the way.
Why it matters. When little gets built, the homes already here do not have much competition. Good for prices, as long as people keep arriving.
Non-residential building approved · ABS
Government building spend in Willoughby has eased: $2m approved in FY26
Government projects All non-residential
$1.1b
All sectors, FY26
$2m
Government, FY26
$42m
Schools and health, last 3 years
What this shows. The dollar value of shops, offices, schools, hospitals and other non-home buildings approved each year. The darker bar is the government's share.
Why it matters. Governments build where they expect people. Schools and hospitals are the most honest signal they give about where families are heading. For the named projects behind these numbers, ask for the full report.
Jobs
Who's working in Willoughby.
Work here runs on professional services (19% of jobs), ahead of finance and health care and social assistance. 3,172 more residents are in work than five years ago (+7.7%). Unemployment sits at 3.7%, comfortably under the national 4.2%. On the ABS advantage index this council ranks in the top 10% of the country, which you'll notice in the price tags.
Jobs · SALM, March 2026
3,172 more people in Willoughby have a job than five years ago
44,479
Residents in work
3.7% vs 4.2%
Unemployed · Australia
+7.7%
Jobs change, 5 years
Willoughby Australia
Why it matters. Strong jobs growth shows up in housing demand with a lag. People get the job first and buy the house a year or two later.
Who employs people here · Census 2021
Professional services is the biggest employer in Willoughby, 19% of jobs
What this shows. The five industries that employ the most residents, as a share of all jobs. The pill is the ABS advantage score: Willoughby sits in decile 10 of 10 nationally, where 10 is the most advantaged.
Why it matters. A spread of employers means no single closure can empty the town. That is the kind of job base that holds house prices through a downturn.
The outlook
Is Willoughby worth buying into?
The strongest thing the data says for Willoughby is a job base that has expanded. None of this guarantees anything. It tells you where to look harder, which is what a report like this is for.
Free · Written by hand · One per person
This page is the public data. The full report is that written up as a document, plus the current price, rent, yield and growth on one suburb inside Willoughby. One per person.
Name, email and phone. I write these by hand, one per person, and the conversation afterwards is the only thing the report costs.
Inside the LGA
The suburbs of Willoughby.
Next step. See what's for sale in Willoughby on realestate.com.au or Domain. Then send me the address before you make an offer. That is the part the data cannot do.
All 11 suburbs and localities in Willoughby
Artarmon · Castle Cove · Castlecrag · Chatswood · Chatswood West · Middle Cove · Naremburn · North Willoughby · Northbridge · Willoughby · Willoughby East
Free · Written by hand · One per person
Want the full workup on Willoughby?
This page is the public data. The full report is the written workup: current price, rent, gross yield and vacancy, growth over 1, 3, 5 and 10 years, days on market and demand, and the supply coming down the pipe, for Willoughby or any suburb in it. Same data we run for clients. I pull it and email it through, usually within a business day. One per person, no charge, and no 14-part email sequence afterwards. All I ask is that if it lands, you take the fifteen minute call at the end of it.
Name, email and phone. I write these by hand, one per person, and the conversation afterwards is the only thing the report costs.
Keep comparing
Markets of a similar size in NSW.
A council only makes sense in context. These are the NSW markets closest to Willoughby in population, each with its own written report.
General information only, not financial or investment advice. Cycle positions and projections are modelled LGA-level figures to July 2026, sourced from HtAG Analytics. Population and approvals are ABS estimates; employment is SALM smoothed data; income, age and tenure are Census 2021. None of it can see street quality, flood maps, zoning or the contract, which is where deals are actually won and lost. Get advice on your own situation before acting.
Data finds the area. It doesn't buy the house.
We narrow 15,000 suburbs to the top 5 for each client, then find the street and the property. If Willoughby is on your list, that's a conversation worth having early.