Port Kembla, NSW 2505
Wollongong City Council, New South Wales
Good to Know
Port Kembla, NSW 2505 is a tightly-held house market in the Wollongong City Council area, currently positioned as a long-hold capital growth submarket. Home to roughly 5,088 adults across 2,852 dwellings, the market shows a low vacancy rate of 0.94%.
According to HtAG Analytics, Port Kembla is exhibiting strong rental demand and constrained supply. Stock on Market sits at 0.17% and Inventory at 1.72 months — well below the ~3-month balanced-market threshold — driving +7.1% YoY price growth and +8.3% YoY rent growth.
What the market data is signalling
Port Kembla's housing market shows rental-led momentum: rents have risen +8.3% YoY versus price growth of +7.1% YoY, while the indicative gross yield sits at 3.06% (above the recommended minimum of 3%). Constrained supply signals are clear — Stock on Market 0.17%, Inventory 1.72 months and a 0.94% vacancy rate — and together these underpin current price and rent strength. For a visual view of where this sits in the broader market, see the Markets in the Moment (MiM™) heatmap.
Who lives in Port Kembla — and why it matters for investors
Port Kembla has an IRSAD decile of 3, indicating relatively lower socio‑economic advantage. The Renter/Owner split is 34% (neutral), and the Units/Houses mix is 23% (neutral). Lower IRSAD areas can show higher rental demand volatility but also offer different yield and affordability profiles for buyers — see the IRSAD Crossover study for how these dynamics often affect long-cycle outcomes.
Why suburb-level data matters for Port Kembla
Council-level averages can mask tight pockets like Port Kembla; investment decisions should rest on the suburb's own metrics. Port Kembla's typical house price is $1,211,710, with a gross yield of 3.06%, Stock on Market 0.17%, Inventory 1.72 months and 37 days on market — a combination that signals constrained supply and rental pressure at the suburb scale. For more on why you should screen at the suburb level, see LGA vs Suburb research.
Download the full Port Kembla data guide for a complete suburb dossier.
What's behind the RCS™ score of 55
The HtAG RCS™ bundles three independent dimensions — risk minimisation, capital-growth potential and cashflow resilience — into a single composite score. An overall score of 55 suggests a balanced profile where rental strength and constrained supply support returns, but affordability and socio‑economic factors warrant strategy alignment. Learn more about how the RCS™ is built. Then open Port Kembla in HtAG Copilot to explore the sub-score breakdown against your goals.
Forward signals to watch
vacancy rate — currently 0.94%: sustained sub‑1% vacancy typically keeps upward pressure on rents and reduces landlord concessions over 12–24 months.
building approvals ratio — currently 0.13%: very low approvals suggest little new supply will enter the market soon, supporting capital preservation against oversupply risk.
Sydney cycle phase: a city‑wide shift in momentum (up or down) would amplify local outcomes in Port Kembla — an upswing in Sydney demand would likely strengthen local rent and price momentum, while a broad city slowdown would test resilience.
Does this area meet your investment goals?
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RCS Breakdown
Port Kembla's RCS™ headline is an overall signal — but it doesn't tell you why. The three sub-scores below reveal whether that score is earned through risk minimisation, capital growth, or cashflow — and which portfolio brief it fits.
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Market Trends
Port Kembla's headline values — $1,243K to buy and $720PW to rent, a 3.01% gross yield. Over the past decade, prices have moved 99.33% and rents 77.40% — the Yield series shows whether that gap is widening (price outpacing rent, yield compressing) or closing.
$1,243K is today. The 10-year trajectory reveals whether that's the top of a run, the start of a new leg, or somewhere mid-cycle. Sign up to unlock the entire trend line.
$720PW today, with rent growth at (+8.73% YoY) compared to price growth (+8.88%). That spread determines yield is expanding or compressing across the next cycle. Sign up to unlock the entire trend line.
Where is Port Kembla in its cycle - and is the 3.01% yield holding?
Cycle phase tells you whether you're buying near the bottom (room to run) or top (compression ahead). Yield trajectory tells you whether cashflow is durable or being eroded — the single most important question for a long-hold thesis.
Cycle Phase
Cycle Position
Yield Trajectory
Rent vs Price Spread
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Area Risks
Property data alone won't flag the structural risks that can erode a long-hold position. Bushfire overlays, flood-zone exposure, and economic concentration sit outside the price feed but determine whether your capital is insurable, defensible, and structurally protected. Unlock to see.
Are there hidden structural risks shaping Port Kembla's long-hold story?
Beyond the headline price, Port Kembla carries risk signals a median can't show — hazard exposure from bushfire and flood overlays, and how narrowly local employment leans on a handful of sectors (the concentration the EDI score quantifies). Together these separate insurable, defensible long-holds from those carrying tail-risk that never surfaces in the headline number.
MADI Risk
EDI Risk
Bushfire
Flood
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Critical to know
Supply & Demand
Port Kembla's headline numbers show where the market is today. The two cards below answer where it's heading. Direction is what separates a buy from a wait.
Is housing supply tightening or building up?
Stock on Market is one number — the trend is what matters. SoM, inventory, building approvals and hold period together reveal whether the market is starving for stock (price pressure up) or quietly building a pipeline (pressure down).
Stock on Market
Inventory
Building Approvals
Hold Period
Is buyer and renter demand heating up or cooling off?
Vacancy is one signal — the real question is whether demand is still building or quietly peaking. Days on market, vacancy, search index and clearance rate are the four pulse-points — when they diverge, they signal a turning point.
Days on Market
Vacancy Rate
Search Index
Clearance Rate
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Fundamentals
Port Kembla can look solid on the surface — but the three layers below separate markets that genuinely hold value from ones that only look like they do.
Is Port Kembla genuinely stable - or just expensive?
IRSAD hints at affluence, but socio-economic strength alone doesn't guarantee resilience. Combined with the renter-to-owner balance and unit-to-house ratio, you get the three signals that separate a tightly-held submarket from one carrying hidden volatility.
IRSAD
Renter to Owner
Units to Houses
Where do Port Kembla prices go over the next 12 months?
Today's headline price is just a snapshot. Projected ROI and the volatility index tell you whether to commit capital now, wait for a softer entry, or rotate into a steadie submarket.
Projected Annual ROI
Volatility Index
Can you actually buy into Port Kembla - and exit cleanly?
Tightly-held areas reward long-hold investors but punish anyone who needs liquidity. Annual sales and rental volume reveal whether your capital can reposition — or sits structurally locked in.
Annual Sales Volume
Annual Rental Volume
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Important to know
Education & Infrastructure
Port Kembla looks tightly-held and stable on the surface — but the three layers below separate areas that genuinely hold value from ones that only look like they do.
Does Port Kembla's school catchment + infrastructure pipeline justify the price?
School ranks anchor family demand and tenant quality. The active infrastructure pipeline shifts a suburb's price ceiling over the next 5–10 years. Together they tell you whether Port Kembla has structural support for the next leg of capital growth.
School Rank
Hospitals & Employment
Infrastructure Spend
Transport Projects
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Full HtAG Intelligence
Port Kembla shows potential. The platform tells you whether it's the best fit for your portfolio.
Price and yield are only the surface. HtAG reads the forces underneath — supply tightening or loosening, demand heating or cooling, and the risks that move slowly but decide long-term growth. Together they show whether Port Kembla has the structural support for its next leg — or whether the numbers are running ahead of the fundamentals.
The total adult population (15 years or older) of Port Kembla 2505 NSW is 4,216, with a median age of 42. Of those, 38.52% are married, 14.02% are divorced or separated, 38.73% are single and 8.87% are widowed.
The average household size is 2.4 people per dwelling, and the median household monthly income is estimated to be $7,036. The median monthly mortgage repayment for households in this suburb is $1,950 which is 27.71% of their earnings.
Source: ABS Census Data (2021)