A quiet, low-density coastal pocket at the Botany Bay headland about 13 km south-east of the Sydney CBD, in the City of Randwick — one of the municipality's smallest suburbs, with just 721 residents at the 2021 census. Its defining character is detached family housing: 80% of homes are separate houses, far above the 28% Randwick municipality average, with villas, cottages, low-rise flats and townhouses mixed in. Buyers/investor commentary describes it as a tightly held, high-value house market favoured as a long-hold capital-growth suburb, set between La Perouse, Little Bay and the golf links, with a village-like coastal feel around Yarra Bay.
At a Glance
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| Region | Eastern Suburbs |
| Council (LGA) | Randwick City Council |
| Postcode | 2036 |
| Distance to Sydney CBD | Roughly 45–60 minutes by bus, varying with time of day: express and all-stops services along Anzac Parade (394X La Perouse–City Museum… |
| Median house price | ~$2.6–2.9M: REA's 12-month suburb median is $2,580,000 for houses; YIP (CoreLogic data) puts the median sale price at $2,930,000; Cotality/RP Data via propertyvalue.com.au shows a $2.9M median sale price (124th in NSW); HtAG's typical house value is $2,448,000 (low confidence, thin sales) (mid-2026) |
| Median unit price | ~$1.8M (REA 12-month suburb data lists a median of $1,805,000 for units — based on very few sales, since units are a tiny share of stock) |
| Typical rent | ~$1,340/week for houses |
Transport
Public transport is bus-only — Phillip Bay has no railway station, and services run along Anzac Parade, which forms the suburb's boundary. Routes serving the suburb's stops include the 390X (La Perouse–Bondi Junction), the 394X express (La Perouse–City Museum), the 391 to Central, and school specials 658e/668e/736e (live bus schedules for the Anzac Parade stop near Canara Avenue; TransitApp route 394X). The nearest rail access means taking a bus to the city or to connecting stations — there is no train line in the suburb.
Schools
Phillip Bay does have a school within its boundaries despite its small size: La Perouse Public School, a NSW government K–6 primary at 8–18 Yarra Road, Phillip Bay — the school carries the neighbouring suburb's name but its campus is in Phillip Bay. Secondary students attend schools in the immediately adjacent suburbs, notably Matraville Sports High School, the government 7–12 comprehensive and sports-specialist high school on Anzac Parade in Chifley, which borders Phillip Bay.
Shopping & Amenities
Local retail within Phillip Bay is minimal — the suburb is essentially residential, with Catholic and Baptist churches on Yarra Road and the Yarra Bay Sailing Club on the waterfront among its few community facilities. Everyday shopping, cafes and services are found in the immediately adjacent suburbs: La Perouse (the foreshore precinct around the La Perouse Museum with cafes and takeaway dining) and the shops of Matraville, with the major retail centre of the area, Westfield Eastgardens, a bus ride away beyond Hillsdale.
Parks & Outdoors
Botany Bay defines the suburb's western and southern edges: Yarra Bay beach and its waters are in Phillip Bay itself, with Yarra Point, Bumborah Point, Bicentennial Park and the heritage-listed 1903 Yarra Bay House (a former Cable Station annexe owned by the Aboriginal Land Council) all within the suburb, along with the Yarra Bay Sailing Club. The adjacent La Perouse headland offers Frenchmans Bay, Cape Banks and Bare Island at the entrance to Botany Bay, linked by coastal walking, and immediately east in adjacent Little Bay sits The Coast Golf Club, a seaside links-style course that wraps around Little Bay beach on the cliffs above the ocean (Golf NSW; sydney.com).
Property Market
The median house price in Phillip Bay was around ~$2.6–2.9M: REA's 12-month suburb median is $2,580,000 for houses; YIP (CoreLogic data) puts the median sale price at $2,930,000; Cotality/RP Data via propertyvalue.com.au shows a $2.9M median sale price (124th in NSW); HtAG's typical house value is $2,448,000 (low confidence, thin sales) (mid-2026). See our full Sydney property price map for how the suburb compares across the city. A tightly held coastal market: only ~292 dwellings and 721 people, stock on market 0.41% and inventory ~1.55 months, so medians swing between trackers — houses ranged from $2.448M to $2.93M across mid-2026 windows, with a Cotality median sale price of $2.9M. Housing mix is 80% detached houses vs 28% municipality average, and the suburb shows long-hold characteristics with 10-year price growth of ~46.8% per HtAG. Units are rare and expensive when they trade (REA 12-month unit median ~$1.805M), reflecting waterfront-townhouse-type stock rather than apartment blocks. Rental yields are modest.
New Developments
Development is very limited by design: Phillip Bay is a low-density, protected coastal suburb and one of Randwick's smallest, so there is no apartment pipeline and almost no room for infill. Change is mostly heritage and community-led — Yarra Bay House (built 1903) has undergone restoration, and the Yarra Bay House site and the headland between Frenchmans Bay and Yarra Bay are owned by the local Aboriginal community following title transfers to the Aboriginal Land Council. The main neighbouring activity is the long-running redevelopment of the former Prince Henry Hospital site in adjacent Little Bay, which has added new housing on the suburb's eastern edge.
Jobs & Local Economy
Employment is thin on the ground locally: within the suburb the main facilities are the Yarra Bay Sailing Club and small community services, while tourism and hospitality cluster on the adjacent La Perouse foreshore (museum, cafes, coastal recreation). Port Botany, immediately across the suburb's western boundary, is one of Sydney's biggest maritime and logistics employment areas, and many Phillip Bay residents commute to the Sydney CBD (~13 km) and Randwick's health and education precinct.
Nearby Suburbs
Little Bay, Matraville, La Perouse, Chifley, Port Botany
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.
Sources cited in this guide:
Corrections are welcome — if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
Back to all Sydney suburb guides.