Identified as part of greater Sydney’s growth corridor, Leppington is a suburb on the rise. Since 2011 this region 55km south west of Sydney has grown by a quarter.

With an additional 2500 houses, community centre, new schools and greater public transport access all in the planning stages, let’s take a look at how Leppington shaped up in the last Census, and how far it has already come in the past five years.

Who lives in Leppington

Since 2011 the population of Leppington has grown by over 1000 people, taking the new number of residents to 3498 compared to 2382 five years ago. Just over half the population (51%) is male.

Many of those moving in are young families, meaning the median age of the population has decreased from 40 in 2011 to 35 in 2016.

Now, 21.2% of residents are younger than 15, compared to 18.6% of residents in 2011. Meanwhile five years ago a further 18% were aged 65 and above, while in 2016 older residents comprised only 14.8% of the population.

Of those 15 and above, over half (55.8%) are married, 30.2% have never been married, 6.9% are divorced, 4.2% are windowed and 2.9% separated.

Most residents (78%) live in family households, 19.8% live alone, and 2.3% live in group accommodation.

Within family households, 53.5% are couples with children, and they have on average two children each, compared to 2.1 children per family in 2011. A further 32.3% are couples without children, and 12.4% are single parent homes.

How Leppington fares financially

With a median weekly household income of $1634, Leppington residents earn $150 more than the NSW residents, and $200 more than the Australian figure each week.

They’re also doing better than they were five years ago when residents had an income of $1040, and were $200 worse off than their NSW counterparts at the time.

There’s also been a significant increase in the number of residents in the higher earning bracket, with 17.9% of households now boasting a gross income of $3000 or more each week. This compares to just 9.8% of households in 2011.

But it’s not just the income that’s growing, so too are the expenses. In 2011 the median weekly rent for Leppington was right on the state norm of $300 but has jumped to $485 in 2016, which is $95 above the current NSW figure.

The monthly mortgage is also on the increase. In 2011, median monthly mortgage repayments were just above the state norm at $2084. Now they’re more than $500 more than the state median mortgage at $2518.

How Leppington residents live

Almost 400 new homes have been built in the past five years, and they’re larger than they used to be. In 2011, 86.1% of the housing stock was separate houses, 41.4% having four bedrooms or more, 34.3% being three-bedroom homes and 16.8% comprising two bedrooms.

In 2016, 95.8% of dwellings were separate houses, 56.9% had four bedrooms or more, 24.6% were three-bedroom homes, and just 12.6% were two-bedroom abodes.

And while a significant proportion of these are owned outright, the statistic is not as high as it used to be. In 2011 over half the population (50.2%) owned their home outright, 17.7% were paying a mortgage and 26.4% rented.

In 2016, however, 36.8% owned their home outright, 29.4% were paying a mortgage and a further 29.4% rented their home. This more closely aligns with the national norm where 31% own their property with no debt, 34.5% are paying a mortgage and 30.9% rent.

There’s little doubt Leppington will transform in the coming years, with a raft of plans on the government agenda.

In the meantime the suburb is already showing signs of change. Residents are younger, financially better off and are building larger homes. With that comes an increased number of households paying a mortgage that is larger than it used to be.

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.