Northern Beaches

Mortgage brokerFrenchs Forest.

5,257 properties, 4,226 of them houses. 83% owner-occupied, typical sales around $2.5 million, and families buying for the hospital precinct and school catchments.

Last updated Monday 7 September 2026

Book a local chat

Frenchs Forest at a glance

Last updated Monday 7 September 2026

14,267
people (2021 Census)
5,257
properties in the suburb
4,226
houses vs 344 units
83%
of homes are owner-occupied

What the suburb actually looks like

If you are reading this because you want to buy, refinance or renovate in Frenchs Forest, this is not a unit suburb. It is 8.4 square kilometres of established family streets, 14 km from the CBD, with the hospital precinct on one side and bushland on the other. Four in five homes are houses. More than four in five are owner-occupied. People come here for backyard, school catchment and a block they can rebuild on.

Apartments vs houses

Current stock sits at 5,257 properties. Houses are the market. Units barely register, which is why almost every loan we see here is a family home, a renovation or a knock-down rebuild.

  • Houses 4,226 · 80%

    The real market. Three- and four-bedroom family homes on established blocks.

  • Other 687 · 13%

    Townhouses and mixed stock, still a small slice next to the houses.

  • Units 344 · 7%

    Scarce. Hardly anything lists, and even less sells.

Tenants vs owners

At the 2021 Census, 83% of Frenchs Forest homes were owner-occupied: 46% with a mortgage and 37% owned outright. Only 16% were rented. This is a suburb of people who stay, refinance and improve the house, not a high-turnover tenant market.

  • Mortgage 46%

    The biggest group. Refinance and equity-release conversations are the norm.

  • Owned outright 37%

    Longer-term holders. People stay here about 15 years on average.

  • Rented 16%

    A thin rental market. When a house lists for rent, it is the exception.

Who lives in Frenchs Forest

Frenchs Forest is a family suburb. The biggest age group is 40 to 49, median age is 40, and 61% of families are couples with children. Households average 3.2 people. 86% of homes are family households. Population grew 5.9% between 2016 and 2021, from 13,473 to 14,267, as the hospital precinct pulled more medical professionals and families into the area.

40
median age
16%
aged 40 to 49
3.2
people per household
61%
of families are couples with children
86%
family households
31%
work as professionals

What property costs here

Think of Frenchs Forest as a house market with a hospital attached. Typical sales sit around $2.5 million, in a tight band. Units barely trade. Rental stock is almost all houses, and there is not much of it.

$2.5m
typical house sale, last 12 months
$2.3–2.8m
most house sales sit in this range
$1,350+
asking rent for a 3-bed house
15 yrs
average time owners hold
  • Recent house sales have clustered around $2.3m to $2.8m, with the middle of the market near $2.5 million. Three- and four-bedroom houses do almost all of the trading. There are no two-bedroom houses changing hands.
  • Units are not a real market here. A handful of sales in a year, a median around $1.1m, and often nothing listed. If you are buying a unit on the Northern Beaches, you are usually looking at Dee Why or Manly, not Frenchs Forest.
  • Rental stock is houses. Three-beds have been asking around $1,350 to $1,470 a week, four-beds from about $1,350 through to $2,000. There were no units advertised for rent in the latest snapshot.
  • Thirty-six parks cover about 19% of the suburb. Combined with the hospital precinct and larger blocks, that is why families pay up to stay in 2086 rather than drop back toward the beach for a smaller home.

Schools in the top 100

School catchments are a big part of why families buy here. There is no top-100 high school inside Frenchs Forest. The Forest High is the local comprehensive. Families chasing a 2025 top-100 result usually look next door to Killarney Heights High and Covenant Christian in Belrose.

In the suburb

The Forest High School

Frenchs Forest Road, Frenchs Forest

Local comprehensive

The high school actually inside the suburb. Not in the 2025 NSW top 100.

Nearby catchment

Killarney Heights High School

Killarney Heights

89th in NSW, 2025 HSC

The closest top-100 government high school. The catchment a lot of Forest families ask about.

Nearby catchment

Covenant Christian School

Belrose

98th in NSW, 2025 HSC

Independent school next door that also landed inside the 2025 top 100.

Lending in Frenchs Forest

The hospital precinct has reshaped Frenchs Forest. Most loans here are family houses, renovations or knock-down rebuilds, not high-density units. We see plenty of medical professionals using waived-LMI policies, alongside families pulling equity out of a $2.5 million home to fund a rebuild on an established block. Construction lending and the right valuer matter more than unit-size policy.

James Haywood and the team live and work on the Northern Beaches, so the market here is not theoretical. We compare more than 70 lenders, prepare the application properly and stay on it through to settlement, then review it every year afterwards.

Other Northern Beaches suburbs

Northern Beaches overview
Dee WhyManlyMona ValeAvalon BeachBrookvale

Population, age, tenure, household and occupation figures: ABS Census 2021, Frenchs Forest (SAL 11571). Current property counts supplied for this page. Sale and rental ranges summarised from a September 2026 suburb market snapshot. School ranks: 2025 NSW HSC success-rate tables.

Let's talk about your loan.

Tell us where you're at. We'll come back the same business day with the options worth considering, no obligation, no cost.

Ready to get started?

Answer a few quick questions and we'll match you with the right lender for your situation.

Book a call Or call 1300 992 837