With new developments and a massive shopping precinct all in the works, Denham Court is one of the Macarthur region’s rising suburbs.
In the past five years the population of this region has increased by 20%, according to the latest Census, with further growth planned in the coming years.
So what’s the appeal of Denham Court and who resides in this quickly growing precinct?
Who lives in Denham Court
The population of Denham Court is three years younger than the state and national statistics, with a median age of 35. This represents a younger population than five years ago when the median age was 39.
It comprises 53.9% males and 46.1% females and the population has increased over the past five years, rising from 1590 people in 2011 to 1981 in 2016.
There’s a relatively even representation of both the older and the young, with 14.2% of residents aged 0-14 and 15.5% of the population aged over 65.
Of those 15 and above, 57.7% are married, 33.8% have never been married, 3.8% are widowed, 3.7% are divorced and 1.5% are separated.
Most residents (84.9%) live in family households, 13.9% live alone, and just 1.1% reside in share accommodation.
Of family households, the majority (48.8%) are couples without children. A further 45.5% are couples with children who have on average two children each, while 5.7% are single parent homes.
These figures denote a major shift within the suburb’s demographics in the past five years. In 2011, the bulk of family household (56.9%) were couples with children, who had on average 2.1 children. Just under a third (32.7%) of households were couples without children, and 9.1% were single parent homes.
How Denham Court fares financially
With a median household income of $1777 each week, Denham Court residents live well above the state and national norms of $1486 and $1438 respectively.
Meanwhile, 27.6% of Denham Court households receive more than $3000 gross each week. That’s also well above the state and national figures where 18.7% of NSW households, and 16.4% of households nationally earn above $3000 each week.
Interestingly, while the percentage of Denham Court households grossing above $3000 each week remains largely unchanged since 2011, the median weekly household income has decreased from $1946.
This weekly income drop may reflect the influx of younger couples into the region, who are yet to reach their prime earning years.
The expenditure within the region for accommodation also shows some interesting results. Over the past few years weekly rents have slightly decreased while the median monthly mortgage payment is on the rise.
Denham Court residents currently spend a median of $2600 each month on their mortgage. This is more than $600 above the state median and $845 above than the national figure. In 2011 the median Denham Court mortgage was $2500 each month.
When it comes to rent, Denham Court residents pay a median of $215 each week. This is significantly less than the NSW figure of $380, and the national statistic of $335. It’s also less than five years ago when the median rent for Denham court was $230. But the truth is there are not many renters in Denham Court, with only 14.8% of housing stock on the rental market.
How Denham Court residents live
The monthly mortgage figure is high because the properties in Denham Court are generally large and freestanding. Over 75% of housing stock is detached homes, a further 1.8% is flats or apartments, 5% is listed as other accommodation and the remainder of properties are not reflected in the Census data.
Almost two thirds of properties (63.7%) comprise four bedrooms or more, 7% have three bedrooms, 6.9% are two-bedroom properties, 14.8% have one bedroom and 4% are bedsits.
This is a major change on five years ago. In 2011 over 85% of the housing stock was free-standing homes, 4.5% was duplex accommodation, and 10.5% was classed as other.
Of those properties at that time, 71.2% comprised four bedrooms or more, 13.4% were three-bedroom homes, 7.1% had two bedrooms, and 5.1% were one-bedroom abodes.
And the majority of properties are owned outright. Over 35% of properties have no debt owing on the home, 34.1% are owned with a mortgage, 14.1% are rented and 12.1% have some other sort of tenure type. While this outright ownership remains high it is less than five years ago when an astounding 45.3% were owned outright, 34.9% were owned with a mortgage and 16.1% were rented.
Clearly Denham Court is a suburb experiencing rapid change. It’s an area attracting younger couples to properties that are now slightly smaller on average than they once were. The price for these properties however remains high, and home ownership is the prevailing trend with a marginal rental market of only 14.1%.
The changes will continue in coming years as Denham Court experiences rapid expansion and growth, and establishes itself as a destination in its own right, with new housing precincts like Stockland’s Willowdale coming online.
About United Strata
Centrally located in Mt Annan, United Strata specialises in real estate within the Macarthur region. We boast a wealth of insight into the current and future position of property in the region.
You can learn more about our services here, or contact us directly for further advice.