Central Coast Council
Economic & Socio-Economic Data Updates
Compiled: 25.09.26
Contents
1. New Vehicle Registrations (Aug 2026) (6 Sep 2026)
2. Central Coast business/personal insolvency statistics (8 Sep 2026)
3. STRA data updates (August 2026) (9 Sep 2026)
4. Property Market data (Aug 2026) (14 Sep 2026)
5. Residential Rental Market data (August 2026) (14 Sep 2026)
6. Retail Spend data updates (Aug 2026) (15 Sep 2026)
7. Building Approvals data (July 2026) (16 Sep 2026)
8. Economic data updates (Unemployment, Job Vacancies - Aug 2026) (24 Sep 2026)
1. New Vehicle Registrations (Aug 2026)
Date sent: 6 Sep 2026 | Subject: New Vehicle Registrations (Aug 2026)
I've just updated the new vehicle registrations data to add in the August
data which just released:
For the Central Coast, the proportion of sales of new Petrol/Diesel
vehicles remained at 49%, down from 69% in Jan 2026. Interestingly, EV
sales also exceeded Hybrid vehicle sales on the Central Coast in August.
For NSW overall in August, only 47% of new vehicle sales were Petrol/Diesel
vehicles, with EVs reaching 30% of new vehicle registrations.
Overall, the Central Coast again ranked 3rd in NSW in terms of total new
vehicle registrations in August by LGA. August was down Month over Month.
and Year over Year (1,862 new vehicles registered compared to 1,952in Aug
2025) for the Central Coast.
However, for EV sales on the Central Coast, all months in 2026 from March
onwards are significantly up on prior years:
The cumulative YTD (Jan-Aug) new vehicle registrations for the Central
Coast reached 16,762 vehicles, which is higher than all prior years for
which we have data:
Looking at this cumulative trend just for EVs, the increase in EV sales is
clear to see:
Dashboard Link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/central.coast.council/viz/NewVehicleRegistrationsNSW/TransitiontoEVs2
2. Central Coast business/personal insolvency statistics
Date sent: 8 Sep 2026 | Subject: Central Coast business/personal insolvency statistics
I've just updated the insolvency data/dashboards, using data from ASIC and
AFSA.
The ASIC data is monthly, up to and including July 2026. The time-series
trend shows that company insolvencies are increasing on the Central Coast.
This increase is particularly noticeable in 2026:
The majority of the insolvencies are in postcodes 2259 (Wyong) and 2250
(Gosford/Somersby/Erina), and are mainly voluntary liquidations and
restructuring. From an industry perspective, the majority are in
Construction and Accommodation/Food Services (tourism).
The AFSA data is quarterly, up to the end of June 2026. This data shows
that personal insolvencies were decreasing until mid-2022, then started to
increase, particularly in 2026. Looking at total insolvencies on the
Central Coast in 2025/2026, there were 294 in Wyong Shire, and 147 in the
former Gosford LGA.
Dashboard Link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/central.coast.council/viz/CompanyPersonalInsolvencyStatistics/CompanyInsolvenciesASIC
3. STRA data updates (August 2026)
Date sent: 9 Sep 2026 | Subject: STRA data updates (August 2026)
I've just updated the STRA data and dashboards (Airbnb/Booking.com/Stayz)
to add in the latest (August) daily and monthly data.
At the daily level, it's interesting to notice that while bookings,
occupancy rates and revenue are clearly seasonal, there has been a
significant downturn in average daily rate (ADR) since late March/early
April 2026:
At the monthly level, the top 3 suburbs showing the highest gross revenue,
both for August and for the last 12 months, are Terrigal, Avoca Beach and
Copacabana:
This is particularly interesting since of the top 6 suburbs on the Central
Coast for gross STRA revenue, all have been receiving significant
infrastructure investment from Council, with the notable exception of
Copacabana. From a planning perspective this is significant, as Copacabana
currently does not have the infrastructure to support large-scale tourism.
Year over Year occupancy rates were down for several suburbs in August,
including Terrigal, The Entrance, Long Jetty and Forresters Beach. However,
occupancy rates were up year over year in some of the smaller tourism
suburbs such as Hardy's Bay, Norah Head, Pretty Beach and Wagstaffe:
Gross Revenue continues to follow Occupancy Rate closely.
The Central Coast continues to have high STRA gross revenue and supply
compared to most other LGAs, as well as low occupancy rates:
Comparing STRA properties against long term residential vacancies, by
Central Coast postcode, shows that the gap remains significant, despite the
slight increase in long-term residential vacancies in July:
There are almost 7 times as many STRA properties (1,856) as there are
available long term rentals (269). By postcode, the outliers are 2251 (456
STRAs, 37 residential rental vacancies) and 2260 (437 STRAs, 23 residential
rental vacancies).
Dashboard Link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/central.coast.council/viz/CentralCoastTourism-HotelShortTermRentalOccupancy/ShortTermRentalsRevenue
4. Property Market data (Aug 2026)
Date sent: 14 Sep 2026 | Subject: Property Market data (Aug 2026)
I've just updated the property market data to include the August 2026 data.
*Summary:*
-
-
-
- The Central Coast property market continues to show resilience, with
average house prices reaching $1.26M and a median of $1.13M.
- The unit market offers a more accessible entry point at an average of
$942K, highlighting affordability issues
- Overall market demand remains elevated, evidenced by a total of
70,129 interested
buyers across the tracked suburbs.
Overall, the median house price trend remained flat in August, with the
strongest growth mainly seen in suburbs with lower median house prices. The
total number of suburbs with a median house price over $1M remained steady
at 48, with Gosford increasing to above $1M median house price. Several
suburbs are approaching a median house price of $1M, including Wadalba,
Wyongah, and Wyoming. The hottest suburbs in terms of interested buyers
continue to be Terrigal, Wamberal, Umina Beach, Wyoming and Bateau Bay.
In terms of median unit prices, the average across the Central Coast
dropped slightly in August
This was the first drop since Nov 2024.
More detailed property market analysis can be found below:
Summary Report: https://data-insight-report.replit.app
Key Indicators:
https://pspedding.github.io/reports/Property_Market_Aug_2026_Dashboard.html
Detailed Report:
https://pspedding.github.io/reports/Property_Market_Aug_2026_Insights.pdf
Dashboard Link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/central.coast.council/viz/RentalHousingAffordability-CentralCoastNSW/PropertyMarket
5. Residential Rental Market data (August 2026)
Date sent: 14 Sep 2026 | Subject: Residential Rental Market data (August 2026)
I've just updated the datasets and dashboards to add in the August 2026
data for residential vacancies/rates and weekly asking rents.
1. *Residential Vacancies* - the total number of residential vacancies
dropped to 384 (down from 419 in July, and 434 in June). Postcodes 2256 and
2257 showed a decrease month over month, while postcodes 2251, 2260 and
2261 showed an increase:
All postcodes are still well below the 'market equilibrium' level of 3%.
2. *Weekly Asking Rents* - house rents in August showed a decrease in most
postcodes, with postcodes 2251, 2257 and 2261, showing the most significant
drops:
However, weekly rent in postcodes 2256 and 2262 are still trending up. The
most expensive postcode to rent houses is now 2260 ($891/week) followed by
2251 ($849/week).
For apartments/units, the trend is still up, with only 2250, 2259 and 2263
showing a recent decrease in weekly asking rents. Apartment rents have
increased significantly in 2256 and 2260 in recent weeks. Average weekly
rents for units range from $517/week (2263) to $890/week (2260):
Dashboard Link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/central.coast.council/viz/RentalHousingAffordability-CentralCoastNSW/PropertyMarket
6. Retail Spend data updates (Aug 2026)
Date sent: 15 Sep 2026 | Subject: Retail Spend data updates (Aug 2026)
I've updated the retail spend data and dashboards, to include the data for
August 2026, which released yesterday.
Total retail spend (specifically discretionary spend:
pubs/bars/restaurants/takeways/fast food/tourism/entertainment) for the
Central Coast in August 2026 was $133.8M (Visitor Spend $30.4M, Resident
Spend $103.1M) which was up from August 2025 ($128.3M). Total night-time
spend for these categories was also up Month over Month and Year over Year
(Aug 2025: $37.7M; Aug 2026: $39.5M).
Terrigal was up slightly Month over Month for resident night-time spend but
down for visitor night-time spend. Similarly for Year over Year
visitor/resident night-time spend.
In August, visitor night-time spend made up 26% of total night-time spend
in Terrigal (down from 31% in July), and 21% overall across the Central
Coast.
Looking at total weekend spend for the same retail categories as above,
resident spend is above the long term trend, whereas visitor spend has
dropped below the long term trend:
In terms of suburbs on the Coast in August, Gosford was the highest in
terms of total night-time spend (cafes/restaurants/takeaways), as well as
for resident night-time spend. Terrigal remains highest for visitor
night-time spend, followed by Umina/Ettalong (likely due to the growing
night-life in Ettalong):
For Central Coast resident commuter spend in Sydney, spend in restaurants
and pubs/bars appears to be increasing, however takeaway/fast food
outlets is still significantly below trend:
Dashboard Link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/central.coast.council/viz/RetailSpend/NightTimeEconomy
7. Building Approvals data (July 2026)
Date sent: 16 Sep 2026 | Subject: Building Approvals data (July 2026)
I've updated the latest (July) building approvals data from ABS,
which includes LGA and SA2 level building approvals.
At the suburb level, for the last 12 months (Aug 2025 - July 2026), the
majority of the building approvals continue to be in Warnervale, Lake
Munmorah, and The Entrance, followed by Bateau Bay/Killarney Vale:
The time-series trend shows that July 2026 was on par with June 2026 and up
Year over Year, primarily driven by an increase in Building Approvals for
units/apartments:
At the Financial Year level, approvals for units/apartments so far in
FY26-27 appear to be back on track with FY24-25 and prior years, after the
anomoly of FY25-26 when very few unit/apartment developments were approved.
However, approved dwellings per 100,000 population in July 2026 were much
lower than other comparable LGAs across Australia.
In NSW, total approved dwellings so far in FY26-27 for the Central Coast
rank 5th, the improvement primarily due to the increase in approvals for
apartments.
Dashboard Link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/central.coast.council/viz/ResidentialBuildingApprovalsLGAlevel_15947800026170/BuildingApprovalsSuburb
8. Economic data updates (Unemployment, Job Vacancies - Aug 2026)
Date sent: 24 Sep 2026 | Subject: Economic data updates (Unemployment, Job Vacancies - Aug 2026)
I've just finishing updating the economic data (excluding the Jobseeker
data which is still not available) to include Aug 2026. Here is a summary:
1. *Overview*: Central Coast unemployment/unemployment rate decreased in
August. Job vacancies also increased slightly:
2. *Labour Force Unemployment: *The Central Coast unemployment rate
decreased to 4.2% in August, from 4.5% in July:
The participation rate dropped to 60.7%, and the employment to population
ratio dropped to 58.2% which are both very low compared to other LGA's in
NSW:
The unemployment rate is now among the highest in the region:
*Youth unemployment *dropped to 10.2% in July, up from 12.2% in July.. This
is 0.6% higher than it was in August 2025:
Seasonally, while the Central Coast youth unemployment rate is trending
down in 2026, the average number of unemployed in the age 15-24 range in
2026 is still higher than the previous 4 years.
Comparing the Central Coast to the National data shows that the Central
Coast unemployment rate was lower than the national unemployment rate in
August 2026:
In the last 36 months, the Central Coast unemployment rate has only been
higher than the National rate on 7 occasions and equal to it on 4
occasions. In other words, in 25 of the prior 36 months (69%) the Central
Coast unemployment rate has been higher than the National average.
4. *Job Vacancies:* Job vacancies increased to 1,533 in August, from 1,473
in July and 1,423 in June.However, this is still down from the 1,686 jobs
listed in November 2025 or the 2,441 jobs listed in October 2022:
The month over month increase was seen across occupations including
Professionals, Community & Personal Service Workers, and Technicians &
Trades Workers. Month over Month, the worst affected occupation are
Labourers. The highest growth year over year was seen in Medical
Practioners/Nurses (+130 job vacancies):
Dashboard Link: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/central.coast.council/viz/EconomicandSocio-EconomicSummary-CentralCoast/CentralCoastEconomicTrends