Sydney’s best beach and how much it costs to live there

Stone Real Estate Manly principal Candice Cattell said ferry access to the city, with a trip that can be under 20 minutes, set it apart from eastern beaches.

“You can’t really do that in Bondi – you can only get a bus in or out… or car.”

Anthony Landahl, managing director at mortgage broker Equilibria Finance, said the commute via ferry from Manly’s harbour side was lovely, but also practical.

“We get a lot of our clients who might be professionals … working in the city, with a young family, looking at having that balance between lifestyle, beaches and access to their working needs,” he said.

For this reason, proximity to the beach or ferry wharf was appealing.

“I think everyone wants to be walking distance to the beach,” Cattell said.

“Some people prefer the … harbour view and some people prefer the beach view, so it’s great that you can have those options.”

John Cunningham, managing director of Cunninghams Real Estate, said beach proximity had become more of a “driving force” for Manly’s market.

“The shift has all been around the waterways,” he said.

Places such as Clontarf and Seaforth were previously more expensive than Manly, and now it was the opposite.

“People are selling beautiful, luxurious homes on the waterfronts in those areas, and they can buy an apartment in Manly. That’s the shift,” Cunningham said.

There were also some eastern suburbs movers. Cunningham said one of his clients recently sold an apartment in Bondi for around $6 million and was able to buy a “beautiful home on the flat at Manly” for the same price.

The cost to buy a property in Manly, where stock consists of apartments, semi-detached homes and large, glamorous houses, can vary.

Cattell said a two-bedroom unit with parking could be around $1.7 million to $1.9 million, and a “little” house could set you back around $4.3 million to $4.8 million. But prices for penthouse apartments or homes on prestigious Bower Street, with views of Shelly Beach, may run from $15 million to as high as $40 million, according to Cunningham.

Manly is tightly held, according to local agents, with limited stock. The average hold period in the Manly area was 20 to 25 years, Cunningham estimated, saying people from the inner west, east and the north shore were wanting to buy in.

“One simple fact is that more people want to live here than leave here.”

Cattell said people in Manly really only sold if they needed to, or if they were upgrading. The suburb was also appealing to downsizers.

“They tend to be wanting that ‘lock up and leave, go travel and that’s their base’. So apartments are consistently sought after,” she said.

Cattell recently sold an apartment, 2/126 Bower Street, to a local. But the sellers didn’t move far, buying on the flat so they could be closer to things they need.

A key reason downsizers, families, professionals and were attracted to Manly was its laid-back beach lifestyle, said Cunningham. Harbour-front dining and shopping were also a draw.

“There are some gorgeous restaurants in Bondi, but we’re right on the water,” Cattell said.

It was very much a lifestyle-type decision to live in Manly, Landahl said.

“Just the fact you can walk to the ferry, jump on a ferry, and get into the city as a professional, is a massive attraction for people building their careers, but also have a young family.”