Market Pressure Review: Coffs Harbour in 10 Charts

Coffs Harbour: From Holiday Town to Property Market Star

Nestled on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Coffs Harbour is a vibrant coastal city best known for its pristine beaches, lush hinterland, and the iconic Big Banana. Positioned midway between Sydney and Brisbane, it combines natural beauty with growing economic appeal. During the 2020-2022 property boom, Coffs Harbour experienced a sharp upswing in house prices, fuelled by lifestyle migration and infrastructure upgrades. Since 2022, growth has cooled, but the city has evolved into a magnet for families, retirees, and remote workers.

Join us today to find out how the current market conditions are and when we can expect a material recovery!

As of June 2025, Coffs Harbour’s house market pressure remains relatively low. 

Among the six metrics InvestorKit uses to measure market performance, Coffs Harbour scores 5 (very strong) in rental pressure and incoming supply, 3 (average) in rental yield and 1 or 2 (weak) in price pressure, growth cycle position and affordability.

Demographic & Economic Trends

Population growth has been lower than the national average in the past 8 years, except during the pandemic. 

Internal migration spiked in 2020-2022 due to the exodus-to-lifestyle trend, but the trend has softened since 2023, likely as a result of both back-to-office shifts and affordability pressures. On the other hand, overseas migration has remained robust, attracted by the city’s delightful combination of mild climate, laid-back coastal lifestyle, improved infrastructure and job opportunities. 

Economically, Coffs Harbour is solid. Unemployment rate has remained at or below 4% since 2021, and the number of job opportunities has stabilised at around 1.5 times the pre-pandemic average level. 

This economic resilience lays the groundwork for future property market recovery.

Sales Market Trends

Coffs Harbour’s market pressure improved slightly over 2024, as seen in the Days on Market decline. However, the momentum didn’t continue in the past half a year – prices haven’t been growing, and the 3-month rolling median price has even shown a downward trend in early 2025.

The market stagnation can be explained from a supply vs. demand perspective. The number of listings has been fluctuating between 450 and 500 over the past 2 years, with the number of sales remaining low and only having improved slightly. As a result, inventory stays high, and market pressure remains low. There has been a mild inventory decline in recent months, but it’s not sufficient to drive prices up.

While Coffs Harbour has a large pool of established housing, new supply remains limited. Over the past decade, house building approvals have stayed below 2% annually, keeping the risk of future oversupply low.

Coffs Harbour’s house prices surged dramatically during the COVID boom, pushing the past 5-year and 10-year annualised growth rates above the long-term average (5-7%). This, coupled with the relatively slow population growth and low current market pressure, suggests that growth in the short to medium term is likely to be moderate. 

Rental Market Trends

Rental market is under high pressure, as seen in its low and declining vacancy rate. The declining vacancy rate has led rents to return to growth since mid-2024, achieving 6.7% growth from June 2024 to February 2025.

Rental yields have been improving as rents have grown faster than sales prices. 4.4% doesn’t seem particularly high in today’s high interest rate environment, but as interest rates continue decreasing in the rest of 2025 and rents continue to outgrow sales prices, Coffs Harbour will become more attractive to investors gradually.

Affordability has worsened significantly in both the sales and the rental markets in recent years, with median house price 31% overvalued and median rental price 19% overvalued in 2025. In the coming year, the sales market affordability is expected to further improve as interest rates go down, and the rental market affordability is expected to continue worsening as rents will likely outgrow salaries. Therefore, we expect demand in the sales market to continue increasing.

In the next 6-12 months…

Coffs Harbour’s market pressure is still low, evidenced by the high inventory level and flatlined days on market, but rental market pressure remains high with healthy rental growth and rising rental yields. In the coming 6 months, we expect prices to continue to grow slowly, while rental prices will likely outpace sales price growth, further lifting rental yields. As interest rates decline, affordability is set to improve, particularly in the sales market. As yields strengthen, attracting investors back, and improved affordability extracts more demand from the rental pool, a material recovery is likely to follow.

Coffs Harbour is the 15th regional city we examine in this Market Pressure Review Blog Series. Stay tuned for more cities to follow! InvestorKit is a data-driven buyers’ agency that chooses purchasing locations through a sophisticated market pressure analysis system. This methodology has enabled our clients to achieve growth higher than the average and expedite their investment journey. Talk to us today by clicking here and requesting your 15-minute FREE discovery call!