Cranebrook, NSW 2749

Family suburb on Penrith's northern fringe, about 50 km radially (65 km by road) west-north-west of the Sydney CBD in the City of Penrith LGA, part of Greater Western Sydney. At the 2021 census it had 15,779 residents — young families dominate, with a median age of 33 (younger than the national 38), 80.4% born in Australia and 85.5% speaking only English at home. It takes its name from 'Crane Brook farm', a 1804 land grant, and its hilly western side looks across the Nepean River valley toward the Blue Mountains. The housing mix is largely medium-density estates built within the last 15 years plus older semi-rural lots in the north, with detached homes on good-size blocks and mature native trees the norm. The area's first Catholic cemetery — McCarthys Lane Cemetery, begun in 1804 — sits nearby and is regarded as the oldest Catholic cemetery in Australia.

At a Glance

Transport

Cranebrook is bus-serviced with no railway station — the nearest station is Penrith, and local buses carry residents into Penrith. Busways runs a 'Penrith to Cranebrook via North Penrith' loop service through the suburb (Busways), route 786 links Cranebrook with Penrith station (Foursquare) and bus services to Cranebrook arrive via Penrith Station Stand B. By car, Penrith is about 10 minutes away via The Northern Road or Castlereagh Road. The suburb's western boundary follows Castlereagh Road and Church Street.

Schools

Cranebrook has three NSW government primary schools — Braddock Public School, Henry Fulton Public School and Samuel Terry Public School — and the local public high school is Cranebrook High School. The Catholic primary school Corpus Christi sits in northern Cranebrook, and the non-denominational Christian St Paul's Grammar School (which offers the IB Diploma Programme) is also in the suburb. Xavier College was briefly based in Cranebrook before its permanent campus opened in neighbouring Llandilo.

Shopping & Amenities

The main commercial area is on Borrowdale Way, centred on Cranebrook Village Shopping Centre, which is anchored by Woolworths and ALDI with Australia Post and a TerryWhite Chemmart among the tenants. The centre was recently completed in the late 2010s and came to market in 2018 with expectations of about $45M (AFR). Everyday services and parkland sit around the Borrowdale Way precinct, and Penrith's larger retail and civic centre is about a 10-minute drive south.

Parks & Outdoors

Cranebrook's hilly western side enjoys views across the Nepean River to the Blue Mountains, and the suburb's fringe parks and estates include the Waterside community's lakes, parklands, walking paths, community centre, swimming pool and tennis courts. Just west of the suburb's Castlereagh Road boundary — an area carrying Cranebrook 2749 addresses — the Penrith Lakes precinct (a chain of flooded sand quarries supplying much of Sydney's sand and aggregate) hosts the Sydney International Regatta Centre, the Sydney 2000 Olympics rowing venue with lakeside picnic grounds, BBQ facilities and kilometres of cycling and walking paths, plus the Penrith Whitewater Stadium used for the 2000 whitewater slalom. McCarthys Lane Cemetery, begun in 1804, is regarded as the oldest Catholic cemetery in Australia.

Property Market

The median house price in Cranebrook was around ~$1.0M–$1.13M depending on tracker (mid-2026): proplo's median of NSW Valuer General settled sales is $1,005,000 (+8.1% YoY, 246 sales in 12 months), while soldnsw records a median sold price of $1,130,000 across 115 sales. See our full Sydney property price map for how the suburb compares across the city. Tracker spread on the house median is roughly $1.0M–$1.31M: proplo (settled-sale median) $1,005,000 and soldnsw $1,130,000 sit below HtAG's higher 'typical price' of $1,306K (+9.44% YoY, an AVM-style estimate). HtAG describes Cranebrook as a supply-constrained market — 1.28% vacancy, stock-on-market of just 0.19% and ~1.55 months of inventory (well under the ~3-month balanced threshold) — with +9.3% YoY price growth and 246 recorded house sales in the 12 months to Jun 2026. Housing stock is mostly medium-density family homes built over the past 15 years with some older semi-rural lots toward the north, plus units and semi-detached homes in the Mount Pleasant pocket.

New Developments

Waterside — the 53.3-hectare community built from 2010 on former swampland in Cranebrook's south-western corner, with 694 dwellings, lakes and parklands, including resident pools, tennis courts and walking tracks. Jordan Springs — a masterplanned community on 229 ha of former Australian Defence Industries land east of The Northern Road that shares a boundary with Cranebrook and continues to drive growth on the suburb's eastern edge. New home construction continues steadily across Cranebrook's remaining pockets, and the Cranebrook Village Shopping Centre opened in the late 2010s and was marketed for sale at about $45M in 2018 (AFR). The future of the large ADI site east of The Northern Road — the 15 km² Cumberland-woodland tract bordering the suburb — has been a long-running local planning issue.

Jobs & Local Economy

Local employment is anchored by retail and services around the Cranebrook Village Shopping Centre (Woolworths and ALDI-anchored) and by the suburb's schools and community facilities. Many residents work in Penrith, the regional centre about 10 minutes' drive away, or commute out along The Northern Road/M4 corridor, and Windsor and Richmond — about 10–15 minutes by car to the north — provide further local job catchments. Ongoing residential development has also sustained construction and trades work locally.

Nearby Suburbs

Castlereagh, Londonderry, Llandilo, Jordan Springs, Mount Riverview, Penrith, Cambridge Gardens

Sources & method

Researched 4 September 2026 from named public sources — census and government records, transport authorities, council and planning documents — plus published sales data. Where sources disagree on a figure, the guide says so rather than picking one.

Corrections are welcome — if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.

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