Kiama’s expensive real estate prices are delivering huge dividends for property sellers with a recent report showing that profits have never been higher.

According to research by Cotality over the three months leading up to June, Kiama house sales recorded a median nominal gain of $758,000, the highest of any Local Government area in the country.

Sellers in the area, on average, are holding on to property for an average of 12 years and over that time, the median dwelling value in the Kiama LGA has shot up by 120%.

Over the June quarter, six of the top 10 most profitable Local Government Areas were in NSW.

Woollahra Council, in Sydney’s highly sought after eastern suburbs, was also in top 10, recording a median nominal gain of $575,000.

Cotality's Q2 2025 Pain & Gain report analysed approximately 97,000 resales over the period, revealing 94.8% of transactions recorded a nominal gain.

This is above the decade average of 91.5% but it is a slight decline from 95% of resales in the March quarter.

Ray White Kiama sales and marketing executive Sam Scobie said he was not surprised by the Cotality report’s findings.

“This report definitely reflects what we’re experiencing locally,” he told The Bugle.

“Even through winter, which is usually our quieter, off-season period, our team still managed to smash past our sales records for the second time this year.

“Currently it is a very good opportunity for sellers who are toying with the idea of selling, even with the RBA holding the cash rate on Tuesday there are definitely buyers looking to secure their next home in our little paradise.”

Scobie said house-hunters were not just coming from Sydney.

“We’re welcoming plenty of new buyers from Sydney, Canberra and even regional areas like Wagga Wagga - all still chasing that lifestyle/sea change,” he added.

Sam Scobie.

“Because of this, it makes it very uncommon for sellers in Kiama to take a loss, and even those who bought right at the COVID peak are now seeing the market catch up and push beyond those levels with the introduction of new buyers. Of course there are always exceptions.

“When I ask people why they’ve chosen to live in Kiama, most simply say they love it here and can't give me a reason.

“To me, I think between the sense of community, the coastline and rolling hills, and the easy trip back to Sydney, it’s not hard to see why so many are making the move.”

Cotality’s head of research, Eliza Owen, said it was a good time to be considering selling property.

“Across all profit-making resales nationally, we saw a median nominal gain of $315,000 for sellers recorded in the June quarter,” she said.

“This was a record high, up from $305,000 in the previous quarter, and the decade average of $250,000.

“Meanwhile, the national median loss fell to $42,000, down from $44,000 in the March quarter and a high of $45,000 in the December quarter of last year.”

The proportion of loss-making sales increased to 5.2% in the June quarter, up slightly from 5% in the first three months of 2025.

“Many of these losses are concentrated in markets that still haven’t returned to their peak values,” Owen added.

“Between June and August of this year, the likelihood of a loss-making resale has broadly reduced as national home values rose 1.3%, and fewer markets at the suburb-level recorded quarterly falls across Australia.”

Regional Australia has continued to outperform capital cities in terms of profitability with 96.4% of regional resales making a nominal gain in the June quarter, compared with 93.9% in capital cities.

Houses continued to outperform units in the June 2025 quarter, with 97.2% of house resales delivering a profit, compared to 89.8% of unit sales.