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Suburb profile ·Ballina LGA · NSW ·2478

Cumbalum NSW 2478

Cumbalum is in Ballina LGA, NSW, postcode 2478, with population 2,211.

The read

Growth-momentum

The page has enough signal to be useful, but the story is mixed rather than decisive. Use compare mode to pressure-test it against stronger nearby options, then use the calculator if it still makes the shortlist.

$800/wk
Rising
+6.7% YoY
Mar 2025 → May 2026 · 15 periods
NSW Fair Trading · postcode 2478 · May 2026
$800
$750
Mar 2025May 2026
Why it fits

Recent price movement shows visible market momentum. Transport coverage adds a practical access signal. Higher SEIFA context supports a stronger local-quality read.

What to check

Gross yield looks low for an income-first use case.

Median house
$1.3M
House median, latest period
10.9%YoY D8 vs AU
Median rent
$800/wk
Rent-pressure candidate
6.7%YoY D10 vs AU
Gross yield
3.1%
Low yield band
D9 vs AU
Population
2,211
2K local footprint
D9 vs AU
Schools
No matched school data
Drive to city
8h 45m
726.7 km to Sydney CBD · free-flow
Solar
9,080
480 added 12mo · 55MW
Price cycleAt its peak
LowPeak

At / near its all-time high

See trend depth →

Price history

Houses to Q2'26 · Units to Q3'25 — house and unit medians are released on separate cycles, so their latest period can differ.

Trend & investor depth

Cycle positionAt its peak
Low · 2006Peak · 2026

At / near its all-time high

Price growth (compound)% per year
3-yr
+9.1%
5-yr
+3.8%
10-yr
+7.5%
Indicative cashflow-$664/wk (-$34,520/yr) · interest-only @ 6.2%, 80% LVR
Market turnover6.8% of homes traded/yr (50 sales · -8% vs 3-yr avg)
Rent stabilitystable — rents vary ±2.2% around trend (short window, 15 pts)
Value vs advantage-6% vs suburbs of similar SEIFA advantage (decile 9)

Indicative cashflow is interest-only and excludes tax — use the calculator for a full projection. Turnover divides recorded sales by an estimated household count (population over average household size).

Investment grade

Dgrade · 33/100 · top 67% of 3,605AU suburbs
Peer distributionstronger than 33% of AU suburbs
WeakerTypicalStronger
Capital growth25
Rental yield57
Stability21
Volatility-16.7ppCycle-2.0

Bar = this suburb's percentile · tick = typical (median) peer · stability drivers signed (+ = steadier)

Relative grade across Australian suburbs, combining qp's capital-growth (multi-year CAGR + cycle timing), rental-yield, and stability (price volatility + cycle + affordability) metrics via a three-pillar property-scoring method with an imbalance penalty. Within-Australia relative, indicative only — not financial advice.

Investor profile

Who invests in Cumbalum

Owner-occupied 82%Rented 18%
Investor activityATO
Negatively geared5.4%
1,050 of 3,302 landlords
Avg rental loss$8,062/yr
Landlords (rental income)3,302
Reported capital gains2,159
Investor exposure index(moderate vs national)60.7/100
The read

Owner-occupier stronghold

80% of homes here are owner-occupied and 18% rented, with 5% of landlords negatively geared.

Why it fits

80% owner-occupied — owner-occupiers hold longer and absorb rate shocks, supporting price stability.

What to check

Gross yield 3.1% is thin — returns here lean on capital growth, not cash flow.

ABS Census 2021 tenure (G37), ATO postcode rental statistics, and QuickProperty's investor-exposure index. Owner-occupied = owned outright + with a mortgage.

Mortgage affordability

68%
of household income to service a new loan
15.7 yrs
to save a 20% deposit
Severe
housing-stress band
Rent vs buyRenting cheaper

New-loan repayment $6,355/mo vs median rent $3,467/mo (+83% · +$667/wk)

If rates move

At 4.0%: $5,061/mo (-1,295) · at 6.0% (current): $6,355/mo · at 8.0%: $7,778/mo (+1,423)

Assumes a 20% deposit and a 30-year principal-and-interest loan at the current RBA new owner-occupier variable rate, against median weekly household income (ABS Census 2021). Stress bands follow the 30% / 45%-of-income thresholds used in ANZ-CoreLogic and AIHW reporting. Rent vs buy compares that repayment with the suburb's median advertised rent; it excludes rates, insurance, maintenance and deposit opportunity cost.

Stronger alternatives nearby

Stronger 5-yr growth

similar price · cross-LGA

More affordable

lower price-to-income

Alternatives are similar-priced suburbs (0.7–1.4x this suburb's median) in other council areas that exceed it on the named metric. Indicative — not financial advice.

Affordability

Buying
11.7x
median home price as a multiple of annual household income
Stretched
Renting
37%
median weekly rent as a share of gross household income (the 30% rule)
Stretched

Owners with a mortgage repay a median of $2,167/mo, while renters pay about $3,467/mo — renting runs $1,300/mo higher on these medians.

Median price
$1.32M
Household income · yr
$113K
Median rent · wk
$800
Owner mortgage · mo
$2,167
Gross yield
3.1%

Household income

$113K household · yr+37.1% vs NSW suburb median
Personal
$47K
Family
$116K
Household
$113K
Household income distribution (ABS Census 2021 · weekly)fewer than 14% could service the median house
Under $300
20
$300-649
40
$650-999
66
$1,000-1,499
87
$1,500-1,999
90
$2,000-2,999
151
$3,000-3,999
104
$4,000+
91

Serviceability line: a household needs about $4,889/wk to hold a new loan on the median house at 30% of income (20% deposit, 30-year P&I, current RBA rate).

At the median asking rent, about 63% of households here would spend more than 30% of income on rent (rent stress line: $2,667/wk income).

Housing stock and tenure

Tenure (715 households)0.6% social housing
Owned outright
32%
Owned with mortgage
48%
Rented
18%
Dwelling structure3.5% of dwellings unoccupied on census night
Separate house
94%
Townhouse / semi
6%
Flat / apartment
1%

Getting to work: 80% drive, 1% public transport, 1% walk or cycle, 18% worked from home (2021 Census, taken during COVID-era work-from-home arrangements).

Livability

8/ 100 livability index

Top 92% most liveable of 4,565Australian suburbs.

Peer distributionstronger than 8% of Australian suburbs
WeakerTypicalStronger
Everyday access0
Public transport (8 stops)29
Schools & hospitals0

Bar = this suburb's percentile · tick = typical (median) peer

Suburb-level access-density index (not an address-level walk-time score), normalised within Australian suburbs. Method based on the Urban Liveability Index (Higgs et al. 2019) and Walk Score — three equal-weighted domains combined with an imbalance penalty.

Crime April 2025 - March 2026
1,941
4,049 per 100k
D6 vs AU

Crime

Rate · per 100k4,049
Total incidents1,941· April 2025 - March 2026
  • Assault34646%
  • Sexual Offences14519%
  • Robbery162%
  • Break And Enter24232%

Bushfire exposure

High exposure ~46.7%
~46.7% of the suburb is Bush Fire Prone Land · ~23.1% Category 1 (highest hazard)

Estimated exposure to NSW RFS Bush Fire Prone Land (CC BY), point-sampled across the suburb. This shows how much of the suburb sits within the official hazard layer — it is not a Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) rating or a property-level assessment. Obtain a BAL assessment (AS 3959) for an individual property.

Short-term rentals

19
active listings · ~8.6 per 1,000 residents
90%
entire homes (vs private rooms)
16%
run by multi-listing operators
Investment view Estimated
$229
median nightly (entire home)
24%
estimated occupancy
$12,934
estimated annual revenue (gross)

Estimated short-let income is 0.3× the $41,600/yr a long-term let would earn at the median rent — before management fees, cleaning, vacancy beyond the occupancy model, and short-stay regulation.

Active Airbnb listings point-mapped to this suburb from Inside Airbnb (CC BY 4.0). Occupancy and revenue are estimates from Inside Airbnb's San Francisco model (review-rate proxy, minimum-stay assumption, occupancy capped at 70%) — they are gross, indicative, and not a guarantee of returns. Short-stay letting is subject to state and local regulation.

Planning zones

Dominant zone Primary Production
Rural / Green wedge 56% Other 20% Residential 15% Public / Open space 3%
Residential density: Standard

Land-use mix estimated by point-sampling the suburb against NSW EPI Land Zoning polygons (CC BY 4.0). This is a suburb-level snapshot of planning zones, not a parcel-level zoning certificate or development advice. Check the relevant planning scheme for an individual property.

Population outlook

18,611 people · 202222,667 by 2032 (+21.8%)

ABS population projection (2022 base) for the Ballina Surrounds SA2 statistical area — the finest official projection grain available; suburb-level projections do not exist.

Full data detail Census · ATO · ABS · state datasets
Cumbalum NSW — Property Data and Demographics

Cumbalum (postcode 2478) is a compact suburb in New South Wales within the Ballina local government area. With a population of 2,211, the suburb has a blend of families and working-age professionals with a median age of 37. Households earn a median income of $113K per year, with an average household size of 3 people. Recent annual estimates show population movement staying broadly stable across the broader catchment, with population growth running at +1.0% year-on-year at the LGA level. NSW employment has moved +1.2% year-on-year in the official ABS Labour Force trend series, which provides the broader jobs backdrop for this suburb. NSW also had 35 Commonwealth-backed major projects under construction, 17 underway, and 67 in planning as at 2025-09-01, which is useful as a broader delivery backdrop rather than a suburb-specific project count. The most common occupations are professionals, technicians & trades, managers. Employment in the area leans toward healthcare and retail trade. The top ancestries reported are Australian, English, Irish.

The median house price in Cumbalum is $1.3 million, having climbed sharply by 10.9% over the past year. Units have a median price of $895,000 (+3.8% YoY). The current median weekly rent is $800. This gives a gross rental yield of approximately 3.1%. The median monthly mortgage repayment is $2,167.

Public transport access includes 8 bus stops. The crime rate in the Ballina LGA is moderate at 4,049 incidents per 100,000 population.

On the investment side, Cumbalum shows a gross rental yield of approximately 3.1%, rated as moderate yield. Property prices are near the state median ($1.3M/$1.5M). The price-to-income ratio of 11.7x is considered stretched. House prices have moved +10.9% year-on-year. Population growth of +1.0% year-on-year points to stable demand fundamentals. Building approvals have changed +0% year-on-year, indicating steady development activity.

Market & money
Investment signalsHeuristics
Rental Yield3.1%· Moderate Yield
Price vs State$1.3M/$1.5M· Near Median
Affordability11.7x Stretched
Price Momentum+10.9% Rising
Pop. Growth+1.0%· Stable
Development+0%· Steady
InvestmentNSW
Mortgage · mth$2,167
Rent · wk(Census)$610
Market rent · wk(2026-05)$800
Gross yield2.4%
Price / income11.7x
Sales vol (latest Q)(2026-Q2)5
Population growth · Ballina LGAABS ERP
Population (2025)48,603
5-year growth+1.3% CAGR
YoY change+1%
20012025
Development · Ballina LGAABS Approvals
Approvals (2026)153
Houses 74%Units 26%
YoY change+0%
Employment · Ballina LGASALM
Unemployment (Dec-25)2.7%
YoY change+0.2pp
Dec-10Dec-25
Property investors · Postcode 2478ATO
Negatively geared5.4%
1,050 of filers
Avg rental loss$8,062/yr
Landlords (rental income)3,302
Reported capital gains2,159
People & prosperity
DemographicsCensus 21
Population2,211
Median age37
Household size3
HH income · wk$2,170
Personal income · wk$897
Persons / bedroom0.8
SEIFA indexABS
Advantage (IRSAD)9/10
Education (IEO)7/10
Economic (IER)10/10
Disadvantage (IRSD)9/10
Income momentumCensus 16→21
HH income · wk$1,800 → $2,170
Change+20.6%
vs NSW median+0 pp
Median rent+22.5%
stablevs NSW 2016–21
Area & amenity
TransportGTFS
Bus stops8
Hospitals · Ballina LGAAIHW
Public1
Private1
Ballina District Hospitalpublic
Ballina Day Surgeryprivate
Aged care · Ballina LGAGEN
Facilities6
Residential places586
Bupa Ballina125 places
St Andrew's Village Ballina123 places
Florence Price Gardens120 places
BaptistCare Maranoa Centre - Alstonville90 places
Crowley Retirement Village77 places
Alstonville Adventist Aged Care Facility51 places
Childcare · Ballina LGAACECQA
Services26
Approved places1,531
Exceeding NQS9
Imagine Childcare and Preschool Ballina144 places
Harmony Early Education Lennox Head98 places
Goodstart Early Learning Ballina90 places
Seeds Early Learning Centre - Ballina88 places
Emmanuel Anglican College Early Learning Centre80 places
St Anne's Long Day Care Centre76 places
+20 more in Ballina LGA
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Current status
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Sources & freshness
Strong evidence

Cumbalum carries enough direct local evidence for a first-pass decision.

QuickProperty mixes release files, Census baselines, and matched local services on this page. Read the status panel before treating every metric as equally fresh.

PRICE POSTURE
NSW price medians are parser-guarded official records.

Official sale records parsed from cached Bulk PSI ZIP files with parser guardrails for token sales, non-house zoning, and low-value strata component records

RENT POSTURE
Rent is using a state market dataset when available.

Use current rent as a starting signal, not as a fixed underwriting truth.

SERVICE POSTURE
Service coverage is matched locally, not inferred nationally.

Schools, transport, and hospitals are useful as presence signals, but they still have different source cadences.

Data status
Property prices
NSW Valuer General · 2026-Q2 · Official sale records parsed from cached Bulk PSI ZIP files with parser guardrails for token sales, non-house zoning, and low-value strata component records
medium stability · automated · every update · weekly
Available
Market rent
NSW Fair Trading · 2026-05 · State market dataset
stable source · automated · every update · monthly
Available
Crime
BOCSAR · April 2025 - March 2026 · Area-level release dataset
medium stability · automated · every update · release-based
Available
Schools
ACARA 2025 · No local school matches exposed
stable source · automated · every update · annual
Missing
Hospitals
AIHW · No linked local hospital coverage
medium stability · manual file · snapshot · mixed
Missing
Transport
GTFS feeds · 8 matched stops/stations
medium stability · manual file · snapshot · mixed
Available
Population growth
ABS ERP · 2025 · Annual estimate series
stable source · automated · every update · annual
Available
Building approvals
ABS Building Approvals · 2026 · Annual release series
stable source · automated · every update · monthly
Available
Available means a direct local dataset is linked. Verify means coverage exists but freshness or precision is weaker, such as ABS price fallback, Census rent fallback, or low-confidence hospital matching.

Cumbalum FAQ

Common questions
  1. What LGA is Cumbalum in?

    Cumbalum is in the Ballina Local Government Area, NSW, postcode 2478. Council-level context for Ballina LGA (suburb mix, population, rent, and price coverage) is available on the QuickProperty LGA page.

  2. What is the median house price in Cumbalum?

    The current median house price in Cumbalum, NSW is $1.3M, based on the latest available sales data from state Valuers General offices and ABS Data by Region.

  3. What is the typical weekly rent in Cumbalum?

    The median weekly rent in Cumbalum is $800/wk, based on the current market rent dataset. The current rent signal is rent-pressure candidate.

  4. What does the rent signal say about Cumbalum?

    Rent-pressure candidate: Cumbalum rents screen above the local benchmark. Use this as a suburb screening signal before comparing candidates or modelling a purchase; the matching rent ranking can provide broader market context.

  5. Is Cumbalum a good investment?

    QuickProperty's investment signals for Cumbalum show: Moderate Yield, Near Median, Stretched. These are computed from price, rent, income, and population data — not an opaque score.

  6. Where does QuickProperty get its data for Cumbalum?

    Property prices come from state Valuers General offices and ABS Data by Region. Demographics are from ABS Census 2021. School ICSEA scores are from ACARA. Crime statistics are from state police agencies. Transport data is sourced from GTFS feeds.

  7. How often is the Cumbalum data updated?

    Property prices update quarterly. RBA macro indicators update with each deploy. Demographics are from Census 2021. School ICSEA scores are from ACARA 2025.