Kiama real estate, a buyer's guide to towns, homes and prices

Start with the Kiama real estate facts

Kiama Local Government Area (LGA) runs along the coast from Minnamurra in the north to Gerroa in the south, and inland to Jamberoo. These are the numbers buyers ask about first, each from an official source with its date.

Prices and rents are released every quarter, so treat these as a snapshot and check the source before you make any decision.

Get to know the towns of Kiama LGA

Each town in the municipality has its own setting, and the housing follows it. Kiama Council describes the area's landscapes as beaches, rainforest, mountains, escarpment and rural country.

• Kiama: the main town, with the harbour, shops on Terralong Street and the train station. Streets of houses spread over the hills around the centre. Collins Street keeps a row of restored timber terraces.
• Kiama Downs and Minnamurra: the northern suburbs, between Jones Beach and the Minnamurra River, with Minnamurra station nearby. See our Kiama Downs guide and Minnamurra guide.
• Bombo: just north of Kiama town, with its own station beside Bombo Beach.
• Jamberoo: an inland village in a farming valley below the escarpment. Read about Jamberoo village.
• Gerringong, Werri Beach and Gerroa: the southern towns above Werri Beach and Seven Mile Beach, in postcode 2534. See Gerringong and Gerroa.
• Rural localities: farmland and acreage around places such as Jerrara, Foxground and Saddleback Mountain.

Postcode 2533 covers Kiama and the northern suburbs and Jamberoo. Postcode 2534 covers Gerringong and the south. Official sales tables are published by postcode as well as by LGA, which helps when you are comparing the two ends of the municipality.

Compare houses, townhouses and apartments

Kiama is a house market. The 2021 Census shows how occupied homes in Kiama LGA compare with NSW as a whole.

Houses make up most sales, and they are usually sold on their own title. Townhouses, villas and apartments are mostly strata titled, so you buy a lot plus a share of the common property and pay levies to the owners corporation. New developments are often sold off the plan, before or during construction. In NSW, off-the-plan contracts carry a 10 business day cooling-off period instead of the usual 5.

Because flats and apartments are under 9% of homes, the number of Kiama apartments for sale at any time is small, and a few sales can move the official strata median a long way.

Read the official sales and rent numbers

The NSW Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) publishes the Rent and Sales Report every quarter. Sales figures come from Notice of Sale forms lodged with the NSW land registry and are grouped by contract date. Rents come from new bonds lodged with NSW Fair Trading. These are the latest published Kiama figures.

Read these with care. DCJ does not publish figures from 10 or fewer transactions and flags samples of 10 to 30, which it says should be treated with caution, particularly when comparing quarters. Sales data is released about three months after each quarter ends, when roughly 80% of contracted sales have been notified, so recent numbers can still shift. For the Kiama median house price, the non-strata line is the closest official measure.

Check land values with the NSW Valuer General

The NSW Valuer General values all land in the state each year as at 1 July. A land value covers the land only, not the house on it, and it is used to work out council rates and, where it applies, land tax. It is not a sale price.

In the overview of NSW land values at 1 July 2025, residential land values in Kiama LGA fell 3.0% over the year, while residential values across NSW rose 4.2%. The Valuer General valued 9,733 properties in Kiama LGA, with a total land value of $12,204,025,815 across all land uses.

To look up one property, use the Valuer General's free land value and property sales search. It shows the land value history and past sales for an address, which is a good first step before you inspect.

Understand what shapes demand in Kiama

A few things set Kiama apart from other parts of the Illawarra.

• The coast: the towns sit along a string of surf beaches, rock pools and headlands, and people move here for that lifestyle. Our Easts Beach guide shows the beach closest to Kiama Ridge Waters.
• The train line: Minnamurra, Bombo, Kiama and Gerringong are all on the South Coast Line. See Sydney to Kiama for travel options.
• Limited land: the towns are squeezed between the sea and the escarpment, with farmland and rural landscapes between them, so new housing land is limited.
• Who owns the homes: in the 2021 Census, 47.5% of occupied homes in Kiama LGA were owned outright, against 31.5% across NSW, and 17.8% were rented, against 32.6%. On Census night, 16.5% of private dwellings were unoccupied, compared with 9.4% statewide.

For the future supply of homes, Kiama Council adopted the Kiama Local Housing Strategy 2025 on 15 July 2025, and the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure endorsed it on 1 October 2025. It plans for housing over the next 20 years, including a new Kiama urban expansion area and more infill development. You can check the zoning of any lot on the NSW Planning Portal spatial viewer.

Research a property before you make an offer

Work through these checks before you sign anything, and ask your solicitor or conveyancer to review them with you.

1. Sales history: look up past sales and the land value on the Valuer General search, and compare with recent sales nearby.
2. Planning certificate: a section 10.7 planning certificate from Kiama Council sets out the zoning and planning controls on the land. The seller's contract should include one, and Council also takes applications directly. Ask your conveyancer what it shows.
3. Strata records: for a unit or townhouse, the NSW Government advises getting a strata search report before you buy. It covers the scheme's finances, insurance, building defects, planned works, legal matters and meeting notes. A section 184 certificate shows levies, any unpaid levies on the lot and how the 10-year capital works plan is funded. The free NSW strata search shows basic public details only.
4. Building and pest inspection: get your own pre-purchase inspection. For a unit, a standard report usually covers the unit only, so ask for a special-purpose report if you want common property inspected.
5. Cooling-off rules: most private treaty sales in NSW have a 5 business day cooling-off period, off-the-plan contracts have 10, and there is no cooling-off period at auction.
6. Costs on top of the price: check transfer duty and any concessions with Revenue NSW.

If you would like to rent first and get to know the area, ask about long-term rentals at Kiama Ridge Waters.

View Kiama Ridge Waters in 3D or in person

Kiama Ridge Waters is a development of three-bedroom apartments in four low-rise buildings at 2 Surfleet Place, Kiama, developed by St Trinity Property Group. Each apartment has two bathrooms, a full kitchen, a laundry and secure parking for two cars, and Easts Beach is a 15-minute walk away.

Some apartments are for sale through St Trinity Property Group. You can walk through the floor plans in 3D, then register your interest and book a display suite visit to see the finishes in person. To experience the development first, stay in one of the holiday apartments or check availability.

This guide is general information only. It is not financial, legal or tax advice, and it does not predict prices. Get independent legal and financial advice before you buy any property.