Kingsford Suburb Review

A desirable location, large homes and solid amenities comes with hefty prices and the occasional other issue.

Summary: A suburb for those after a fairly premier, central spot and who don’t want to pay the absolute premiums of some of the truly elite Eastern Sydney suburbs, Kingsford is a largely residential slice of the city in which location is its primary selling point. Close proximity to educational facilities, beaches and even Sydney City itself coupled with its newly-added light rail system give Kingsford a connectivity factor that’s easy to appreciate.

It’s also a suburb with enough variety in housing – with a large contrast between its classy and expansive houses in the east and higher-density living in the west – to cater to both students and families, however it brings along with it high pricetags in return. Its amenities are increasingly solid if unspectacular and it’s not the greenest suburb in the world, while traffic is also another factor. It’s fairly peaceful outside of its central hub, while families will have multiple options for education nearby as well.

Key stats

More “elegant” and down-to-earth than glamorous or gaudy as opposed to some of its ritzier Eastern Suburb counterparts, Kingsford is a fairly subdued, largely residential suburb that derives most of its benefits from its proximity to many desirable parts of central Sydney rather than offering them itself.

The key benefit to living here is thus having many of the major highlights of Sydney within easy reach, and few suburbs outside of the most expensive in the city can offer what Kingsford does in this regard.

Centennial Park and the sporting grounds, the beaches of Coogee and Maroubra, the trendy dining of Surry Hills or Double Bay, the pubs of Paddington and the educational options of Randwick, Woollahra and the like are all within easy striking distance from Kingsford meaning there’s always something “important” feeling to do nearby.

It grants the ability to experience parts of ‘true’ Sydney city on a regular basis while still having a largely suburban feel.

That’s not to mention its obvious proximity to the Sydney CBD, either. Having the centre of the country’s business capital a (potentially) 20 minute drive away in addition to its access to nature is a rare balance, and while Kingsford used to feel a little more disconnected in this regard, its newly-added light rail has helped alleviate that even more.

The tram was a much-needed addition that also helped revamp Kingsford’s main retail and dining strip of Anzac Parade to feel a touch more modern.

The ability to hop on light rail for a 20+ minute ride to Central is a welcome one despite some teething pains it’s experienced; add this in to the extremely frequent volume of bus services and it’s extremely easy to get into the city from Kingsford in short order.

It’s also cleared up some traffic issues Kingsford has dealt with in the past. While Anzac Parade is eternally busy and no fun in peak hour, its confusing former double-lane roundabout has since been removed and replaced with traffic lights as a result of the light rail project, alleviating some of the confusion that used to plague drivers here.

Pretty much all of Kingsford’s retail and dining is centered along the Anzac Parade strip other than the odd tiny fast food joint or corner store elsewhere in the suburb.

It’s a fairly well-equipped concentration of restaurants – featuring mostly Asian cuisines – along with an increasingly good array of local cafes as well.

Add in a couple of decent pubs in The Regent and Churchills, and while it’s not the prettiest of dining strips in the world – the adjacent traffic is not too conducive to peaceful outdoor dining – it’s quite a good little scene for an otherwise heavily residential suburb.

An IGA, bottle shop, pet store and other core services help round things out to cover most of the key daily essentials meaning you won’t have to travel elsewhere other than for bigger-box retail shopping.

Outside of here, Kingsford’s streetscape quickly becomes almost purely housing, albeit very different from one side of Anzac Parade to the other.

Its western portion is its most desirable, and becomes lower-density and grander-scale the further along you go until it ends backing on to the golf course.

Homes here are largely freestanding, older and impressive constructions, sitting on peaceful streets that have a decent amount of tree cover.

Many are home to gorgeous walled gardens, with the older demographic in this area obviously taking pride in home maintenance and lawn upkeep. This culminates in the many multi story larger houses that are prominent along Tunstall Ave, and shows just how high-end Kingsford can get in parts.

It’s also quiet here, home to fairly wide and roomy streets, and also the only real concentrated slice of greenery in Kingsford in Kensington Park.

This is a solid, quite pretty and well-equipped park with large ovals ideal for dogs, gym equipment, playground for the kids and basketball court. It’s well-kept and in good condition, but doesn’t offer anything amazing or out of the ordinary.

Outside of the gardens of its homeowners, Kingsford is a little lacking in the greenery department overall. While its high-end residential streets are very pretty, there’s only the one park, and many of its homes otherwise back on to narrow alleys which are quite gritty and frequently strewn with litter.

This becomes more prominent on the suburb’s opposite side, as well. Flowing out from its large, imposing and fairly ugly high density apartment blocks surrounding the tram station, the east side of Kingsford is a lot more mid-market and occasionally rundown.

It’s mostly low-and-mid-rise apartment blocks with the occasional larger freestanding home dotted in, and has become one of the go-to spots to live for students attending the UNSW university campus which sits right nearby. The Prince of Wales Hospital is another drawcard, both for workers and those who are in need of its diverse medical services.

In addition, while other parts of Kingsford are highly walkable, it quickly becomes very hilly here, and can put a burn in the calves if you’re returning home from the tram station on foot back up roads like Barker Street.

For families, Kingsford is solid if not amazing. It again benefits more from its physical location rather than what it offers itself, with multiple high-end schooling options in adjacent suburbs Randwick, Kensington, Maroubra and the like providing plenty of choice.

It’s generally a fairly secure suburb within its residential streets, although not the safest in the world statistically, ranking around middle of the pack crime-rate-wise across Sydney for major key indicators.

The other main issue that’s going to be a barrier for many living here is price.

Kingsford is pricey as a whole, not only a result of its fairly central location but its propensity towards large, grand homes bumping up the median. Sure, it’s “cheaper” than some of the bigger-brand name suburbs of the region, but this is entirely relative.

“Homes here are largely freestanding, older and impressive constructions, sitting on peaceful streets that have a decent amount of tree cover.”

It was already fairly pricey to buy property here in general, and the addition of the light rail has bumped this dollar value up even moreso both from speculators and those wanting to call it home.

An extra couple of hundred thousand dollars buy price has become the norm ever since the light rail was announced.

At time of writing, median property prices for freestanding homes in Kingsford are over the $2.1 million mark, and even its array of apartments aren’t too cheap an alternative. Expect to pay well over $800,000 for something average that’s not necessarily too new, either.

Renters will likewise have to fork out a fair chunk per week over the Sydney median, with around $550-$570 per week the norm for an average 2-bedder.

The Verdict

Kingsford is a bit of a mixed bag in that the multiple appealing factors it offers – location, decent amenities, impressive homes – are offset quite a bit by just how much it costs. Slices of the suburb are undoubtedly pretty and carry a prestige feel, while others not too far away feel the exact opposite.

It’s a fairly hefty cover charge to pay for a place without direct beach access that’s also disconnected from the heavy rail network, although the tram and its associated improvements have helped.

It’s home to a decent balance between buzz/amenities and peace and quiet for those who have the dollars to afford its more luxuriant side, and for students attending the University of NSW it’s an obvious easy choice for quick access to the campus if you don’t mind spending a little bit more on rent.

If you’re the type who will actually take advantage of the benefits of living here – attend the live events nearby, make use of adjacent major parks and public spaces, go to the beach, frequent the city, regularly use the airport – then the investment is definitely worth it.

If you’re otherwise the type who’s mainly a home-body then you can probably save yourself a few hundred thousand dollars by moving a suburb or two over to the likes of Eastlakes (for families) or Rosebery (for the younger crowd) without sacrificing too much lifestyle-wise in the process.