Northern Beaches

Mortgage brokerMona Vale.

5,821 properties, almost evenly split between 2,490 houses and 2,191 units. 75% owner-occupied, a $2.7m house market next to a $1.6m unit market, and a lot of locals doing both.

Last updated Monday 7 September 2026

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Mona Vale at a glance

Last updated Monday 7 September 2026

10,877
people (2021 Census)
5,821
properties in the suburb
2,490
houses and 2,191 units
75%
of homes are owner-occupied

What the suburb actually looks like

If you are reading this because you want to buy, refinance or downsize in Mona Vale, you are looking at the suburb that sits between a family house and a beach unit. It is 4.9 square kilometres, 23 km from the CBD, with a village centre, golf course and ocean on one side. Houses and units are almost even in number. That is why the same street can hold an upgrader buying a $2.7 million house and a downsizer selling one to buy a $1.6 million apartment.

Apartments vs houses

Current stock sits at 5,821 properties. Unlike Dee Why or Frenchs Forest, Mona Vale is split: 2,490 houses and 2,191 units, plus a decent townhouse slice. Both markets are real, and they feed each other.

  • Houses 2,490 · 43%

    Family upgrades and the stock downsizers are usually selling.

  • Units 2,191 · 38%

    The other half of the market. Where a lot of local downsizers land.

  • Other 1,140 · 19%

    Townhouses and villas that sit between a house and a unit.

Tenants vs owners

At the 2021 Census, 75% of Mona Vale homes were owner-occupied. The largest group owns outright (45%), then mortgage (30%), then rent (22%). That outright-owner share is why downsizer and equity-release conversations come up so often here.

  • Owned outright 45%

    The biggest group. Equity is sitting in these homes.

  • Mortgage 30%

    Upgraders and families still paying a loan. Bridging comes up often.

  • Rented 22%

    A real rental market, but not the Dee Why or Manly tenant share.

Who lives in Mona Vale

Mona Vale is older than most of the beaches. Median age is 46, the biggest adult group is 50 to 59, and a quarter of residents are 65 or over. Families with children are still the largest family type, but couples without kids are close behind. Households average 2.6 people. Population only grew 1.9% between 2016 and 2021, from 10,670 to 10,877. People stay, then reshuffle inside the suburb.

46
median age
25%
aged 65 and over
2.6
people per household
45%
of families are couples with children
42%
of families are couples without children
26%
work as professionals

What property costs here

Treat Mona Vale as two live markets. Houses trade around $2.7 million. Units trade around $1.6 million. Plenty of locals are doing both in the same year: sell the house, buy the unit, and need the settlements to line up.

$2.7m
typical house sale, last 12 months
$1.6m
typical unit sale, last 12 months
$740–950
asking rent for a 2-bed unit
14 yrs
average time owners hold
  • Recent house sales have clustered around $2.4m to $3.3m, with the middle of the market near $2.7 million. Three-bedroom houses do most of the volume; four-beds are the next step up.
  • Units are an active market, not an afterthought. The middle is about $1.6m, with sales from just under $1 million through to $2.3m for the better positions. Two- and three-bedroom stock both trade.
  • Rents are split too. Two-bed units have been asking around $740 to $950 a week, three-bed units around $1,500. A three-bed house was listed at $1,250 a week. There is more rental stock than Frenchs Forest, less than Dee Why.
  • Twenty-one parks cover about 17% of the suburb. Combined with the village, the beach and the golf course, that is why people downsize inside 2103 instead of leaving the peninsula.

Schools in the top 100

School catchments still matter for the family half of this market. There is no top-100 high school inside Mona Vale. Pittwater High is the local comprehensive. Families chasing a 2025 top-100 result usually look south to St Luke's in Dee Why or Stella Maris in Manly.

In the suburb

Pittwater High School

Mona Street, Mona Vale

Local comprehensive

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

Nearby catchment

St Luke's Grammar School

Dee Why

67th in NSW, 2025 HSC

Independent K–12 on the Dee Why headland. The closest top-100 school to Mona Vale.

Nearby catchment

Stella Maris College

Manly

93rd in NSW, 2025 HSC

Girls' Catholic college further south, used by families who will travel for a top-100 result.

Lending in Mona Vale

Mona Vale sits at the crossover between family upgrades and downsizing. A $2.7 million house and a $1.6 million unit can be the same client's two files in one year, which is why bridging finance and equity release come up so often. Both need careful timing so one settlement does not blow up the other.

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 WhyManlyFrenchs ForestAvalon BeachBrookvale

Population, age, tenure, household and occupation figures: ABS Census 2021, Mona Vale (SAL 12683). 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.

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