Get a property report and suburb profile for any property in Surry Hills

Surry Hills, just south-east of the Sydney CBD, mixes tree-lined Victorian terraces with converted warehouses and contemporary apartments. Crown and Oxford streets are the suburb’s creative and culinary spine, with plenty of cafés, restaurants, galleries and boutique shops, and community fixtures such as Prince Alfred Park and the Belvoir St Theatre. Good public transport links, including nearby Central station, and walkable streets suit people after an active inner-city lifestyle driven by dining, nightlife and cultural activity.

The suburb has 15,828 residents, a median age of 35 and a typical household income of $2,308 a week, and its population is weighted towards couples without children. About two-thirds of dwellings (67.1%) are rented, so the area feels more renter-driven than owner-occupied. Recent public-realm and park upgrades are in place and active-travel and social projects are being progressed, including a delivered Inner Sydney High School. Whether Surry Hills suits you will come down to whether you want inner-city convenience, lively streets and close cultural amenity or a more residential, owner-occupied setting.

A house in Surry Hills sits well above local incomes as recorded at the last Census. At a median house price of $2,405,000, buying a house works out to about 20.0 times a typical local annual household income at the last Census, while the median unit price of $831,000 is about 6.9 times that annual income. On these figures, buying, and particularly buying a house, sits well above what a typical local household earned at the last Census.

If you're renting rather than buying, the weekly rents show a different picture. A house rent of $1,300 a week would take about 56.3% of a typical local household's weekly income at the last Census, a large share, while a unit rent of $800 a week would take about 34.6%, a sizeable share.

Everyone's financial situation is different, so it's important to consider your own circumstances when deciding which suburb is right for you.

The numbers for Surry Hills show a clear split between houses and units over the past 12 months. House values rose 4.4%, a modest increase, while house rents climbed 8.8%, a solid rise. By contrast, unit values fell 6.6%, a notable decline, while unit rents increased 6.0%.

Put simply, the rent a house earns grew faster than its price this year, and for units rental income rose even as unit values fell. If rental income is your priority, the rent movements are the most relevant; if capital growth is what you want, pay attention to the value changes. Whether that fits your plans is for you to weigh up.

This information has been prepared without taking your objectives, needs and overall financial situation into account. It is not meant to be a substitute for professional financial advice. For this reason, you should consider the appropriateness of the information and, if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice.