Shell Cove (postcode 2529) is a medium-sized suburb in New South Wales within the Shellharbour local government area. With a population of 7,591, the suburb has an established family demographic with a median age of 40. Households earn a median income of $128K per year, with an average household size of 3 people. Recent annual estimates show population movement into the broader catchment, with population growth running at +1.9% 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, clerical & administrative, managers. Employment in the area leans toward healthcare and education. The top ancestries reported are English, Australian, Irish.
Median house prices in Shell Cove stand at $1.6 million, having jumped by 12.1% over the last twelve months. Units have a median price of $1.2 million (-19.6% YoY). The current median weekly rent is $785. This gives a gross rental yield of approximately 2.5%. The median monthly mortgage repayment is $2,386.
Shell Cove is served by 1 school, including 1 primary. The average ICSEA score is 1049, which is around the national average of 1,000. Public transport access includes 27 bus stops. The crime rate in the Shellharbour LGA is below average at 2,875 incidents per 100,000 population.
From an investment perspective, The gross rental yield works out to roughly 2.5%, which reads as low yield. Property prices are near the state median ($1.6M/$1.5M). The price-to-income ratio of 12.7x is considered stretched. House prices have moved +12.1% year-on-year. Population growth of +1.9% year-on-year points to stable demand fundamentals. Building approvals have changed +0% year-on-year, indicating steady development activity.