Median priceⓘLast 12 months
2.80M
↑ +5.6% YoY
Balmain is a mixed market — unit rentals narrowly lead, with 240 leases (down 16.4%) at $843 a week (up 5.4%), renting out in about 13 days (down from 16 days last year), among the country's most in-demand unit rental markets, just over half of homes are 2-bedroom.
House rentals are close behind, with 168 leases (down 16%) at $1,165 a week (down 2.5%), renting out in about 14 days (down from 19 days last year), one of the most sought-after house rental markets in the country, with 2-bedroom making up around 4 in 10. Then come 152 house sales at around $2.801M (up 5.6%) and 71 unit sales at around $1.4M.
Who lives hereAn ultra-high-income, renter-heavy, mixed-age suburb — high-rise-heavy, with a strongly professional workforce, with great public transport.
House covers houses, duplexes, semi-detached and terraces; Unit covers apartments, units, townhouses and villas.
Census data sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics — © Commonwealth of Australia, 2021 Census of Population and Housing and Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) 2021 · Shares, ratios and percentiles shown are Micromarkets transformations of that data · licensed CC BY 4.0.
The age structure, household make-up, and cultural fabric of the people who call this suburb home.
Share of all residents by 5-year band · hover a band for the count + split
18% report Irish ancestry, but only 1.4% were born in Ireland — the gap is the Australian-born and diaspora Irish community, invisible in birthplace alone.
A mix of established and newer migrant families.
2020–21 understated — COVID border closures.
Census data sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics — © Commonwealth of Australia, 2021 Census of Population and Housing · Shares, ratios and percentiles shown are Micromarkets transformations of that data · licensed CC BY 4.0.
What it costs to live here, who owns versus rents, and the shape of the housing stock.
Census data sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics — © Commonwealth of Australia, 2021 Census of Population and Housing · Shares, ratios and percentiles shown are Micromarkets transformations of that data · licensed CC BY 4.0.
Incomes, employment, and the occupation mix of the people who live here.
A typical household pulls in about 1.9× the typical individual — a multi-earner area.
Census data sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics — © Commonwealth of Australia, 2021 Census of Population and Housing · Shares, ratios and percentiles shown are Micromarkets transformations of that data · licensed CC BY 4.0.
How people get to work, and how car-dependent the suburb is — the clearest tell of inner-urban versus outer-suburban living.
Census data sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics — © Commonwealth of Australia, 2021 Census of Population and Housing · Shares, ratios and percentiles shown are Micromarkets transformations of that data · licensed CC BY 4.0.
Education · ACARA My School 2025
4 schools inside Balmain, plus the closest options around it. Distances are straight-line from the suburb centre and are not enrolment catchments — always confirm zones with the school.
ICSEA is ACARA’s official measure of a school’s socio-educational advantage — based mainly on parents’ education and occupation, plus the school’s location and student mix.
Why are some State Rank and star ratings blank? Schools can choose not to publish their results. In practice, schools that score well above their state average almost always publish theirs — so a blank rating more often reflects a school opting out than a top result being hidden. Academic results also tend to rise with ICSEA Rank, so higher-ICSEA schools more often carry a strong State Rank as well.
School profile and ICSEA data sourced from ACARA — © Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (data year 2025) · State Rank & star columns are Micromarkets-compiled academic ratings from publicly available school results · Distances are straight-line from the suburb centre, not catchments.
How settled or transient the community is — and where newcomers came from.
Headline price, rent, yield and time on market for Balmain — choose a property type and size below.
Every segment this suburb tracks — sales and rentals side by side, ranked by total activity over the last twelve months.
Where each segment sits against its peers in the chosen geography — past the midline means it's outperforming the rest.
Market demandHow fast this market is moving — a velocity index built from trailing-year transaction volume and median days on market. Strong volume lifts the score; days on market drags it down, with the drag growing sharply once listings start lingering. Ranked against peers in the chosen geography.
What it costs each week to own a property versus renting the same one — positive means buying carries the premium, negative means rent covers the mortgage.
Two questions on one chart — how strong demand is right now, and which way it's heading year-on-year.
Eight diagnostic views cutting the data a different way each time — Balmain in blue, peers in colour.
How long current listings would take to clear at the recent rate of sales or leases. Critical shortage and Oversupply only fire at the genuine tails of the national distribution — sales tip in under 0.7 months, rentals far faster, under 0.3.
Out of every property transaction in this suburb, what share are sales versus leases — each point a rolling twelve-month window.
Each tape traces one metric across sixty months for the selected segment — every point a trailing twelve-month figure, matching the headline KPIs above.
Every market within reach of Balmain, ranked by distance — each compared against this suburb's Houses · Total segment so divergence reads at a glance.
NSW markets whose Houses · Total segment behaves most like Balmain's on the buy side — ranked by a like-for-like blend of price, yield, days on market, ownership cost and cycle phase.
Comparable sales markets to Balmain include Lane Cove (NSW 2066), Lilyfield (NSW 2040), Glebe (NSW 2037), Summer Hill (NSW 2130), Kingsford (NSW 2032), Dee Why (NSW 2099), West Pymble (NSW 2073) and Glenhaven (NSW 2156). Each link opens that suburb's full market report.
23 data-driven answers about Balmain's property market — every one computed from the metrics above.
The median house price in Balmain, NSW 2041 is $2.8M as of June 2026, based on 152 sales recorded over the past 12 months. Houses there have moved +5.6% year-on-year. Prices vary by bedroom count, from compact two-bedroom homes to larger four-bedroom houses. See the bedroom-level breakdown below for 2-, 3- and 4-bedroom medians.
The median unit price in Balmain, NSW 2041 is $1.4M as of June 2026, based on 71 sales over the past 12 months. Units have moved −0.3% year-on-year and currently trade at roughly 50% of the median house price.
The median weekly house rent in Balmain is $1165 as of June 2026, drawn from 168 leases over the past 12 months. Units rent for around $843 per week. House rents have moved −2.5% year-on-year. Current vacancy pressure is shown in the supply section above.
Gross rental yield in Balmain is 2.20% for houses and 3.10% for units as of June 2026, compared with the NSW unit median of 4.81%. Gross yield is annual rent divided by purchase price — it doesn't account for ownership costs like council rates, strata, maintenance or vacancy.
As of June 2026, Balmain medians by bedroom count:
| Property | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | 4 bed | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houses | — | $2.17M | $2.89M | $4.14M | $2.8M |
| Units | $942k | $1.48M | $2.07M | — | $1.4M |
Figures cover only segments with enough recent transactions to be statistically meaningful; sparse segments are excluded.
At the median Balmain unit ($1.4M purchase, $843/week rent), weekly mortgage repayments sit at roughly $1549 — about $706 more per week than renting. That gap is the ownership premium. Figures assume 80% LVR, a 6.0% interest rate and a 30-year principal-and-interest loan.
Balmain's property market trends to June 2026: house prices rose +5.6% year-on-year and units −0.3%; weekly house rents moved −2.5%; homes sell in a median 22 days; sales supply sits at 1.7 months (severe). Read together — price, rent, selling speed and supply — they show which way the Balmain market is leaning. The 5-year tape and demand cycle charts above plot the full trajectory.
As of June 2026 in Balmain, house prices rose +5.6% over the year, gross rental yield is 2.20% against a NSW median of 3.39%, houses take a median 22 days to sell, sales supply is 1.7 months (severe). Capital growth, rental yield, selling speed and supply are the signals investors weigh — but these figures describe the market, not a recommendation. This is data, not financial advice; always do your own research and consider a licensed adviser.
Houses in Balmain sell in a median 22 days on market as of June 2026, with units clearing slightly slower at 24 days. Faster clearance typically coincides with stronger buyer demand and lower supply.
Balmain's sales market sits at 1.7 months of supply for houses as of June 2026 — classified as Severe (extreme shortage) against the Australian distribution. Under 1.7 months is Severe (extreme shortage); over 4.5 months is Loose. The rental side is tighter still at 0.6 months of supply.
House prices in Balmain moved +5.6% over the 12 months to June 2026, while units moved −0.3%. The 5-year tape above plots the full monthly trajectory — showing where the market changed character rather than just crossing round numbers.
Balmain's house rental market sits at 0.6 months of supply as of June 2026 — classified as Severe (extreme shortage), with 168 houses leased over the past 12 months. Units sit at 1.0 months. Tighter supply typically corresponds to faster letting and upward pressure on rents.
Balmain's house market is currently in the 'in_demand_growing' phase as of June 2026 — combining high sales velocity (top quartile nationally) with flat year-on-year days on market. The demand cycle chart above plots all eight segments on the same demand-versus-direction axes.
Balmain's median house price ($2.8M) is 144% above the NSW median ($1.15M) as of June 2026. On selling speed, houses clear in 22 days vs 29 days state median. On gross yield, Balmain sits at 2.20% vs 3.39% state median.
Balmain's most-similar nearby market is Lane Cove (4.7 km away) with a median house price of $2.87M — about 3% pricier. The Nearby and Similar markets sections above rank every peer within radius and by composite similarity across price, days on market, yield, ownership cost and cycle phase.
The most-transacted segment in Balmain over the 12 months to June 2026 is 3 bed houses with 61 sales. 2 bed houses come second at 41 sales. The 'Most popular' panel above breaks down the top segments with weekly mortgage, rent and ownership-cost detail.
Balmain recorded 152 house sales and 71 unit sales over the 12 months to June 2026 — a combined 223 transactions. On the rental side, 168 houses and 240 units were leased. Segments with statistically thin samples are excluded from displayed figures.
Balmain, NSW 2041 is home to 10,454 residents (ABS Census 2021). The median resident age is 42, and the average household holds 2.2 people. The "Who lives here" section above breaks the community down by age, life stage and tenure.
The median household in Balmain earns $3k per week — roughly $158k a year (ABS Census 2021). Median personal income runs $2k/week. Income, rent-to-income and mortgage-to-income context sits in the "Who lives here" section above.
Balmain is mostly owner-occupied: about 57% of households are owner-occupiers and 42% rent (ABS Census 2021). Of owners, 29% own outright and 28% are paying off a mortgage.
Balmain has 60 schools within reach, 4 of them inside the suburb itself — including Balmain Public School, Fr John Therry Catholic Primary School Balmain - Rozelle, Inner Sydney Montessori School. The Schools section above maps each one with sector, year range, enrolment, Micromarkets-compiled academic ratings and ICSEA (ACARA).
Balmain, NSW 2041 has a population of 10,454, a median age of 42, a median household income around $3k/week, 42% of households renting (ABS Census 2021). There are 60 schools within reach. Whether it's the right fit depends on your priorities — these figures describe the community, housing mix and amenity rather than offer a verdict.
This Balmain market data was last updated June 2026. Figures are computed monthly from 12-month rolling windows of recorded sales and leases, with five years of monthly history behind the trend charts. Methodology, glossary and data sources are linked in the footer.
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