Suburb overview
Sunshine Beach is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 2,480, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 119 km from the Brisbane CBD, Sunshine Beach is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $90,220 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
4567
Postcode for Sunshine Beach, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
2,480
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$995/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
119 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$2,167/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
37% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in Sunshine Beach
- Regional location about 119 km from Brisbane.
- Beach lifestyle with coastal walks and outdoor recreation on the doorstep.
Who Sunshine Beach suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Coastal lifestyle attracts renters and owner-occupiers alike.
- Established infrastructure and existing community base.
Cons
- Median mortgage sits above the Queensland state median — entry costs are stretched.
- Long distance to the CBD (119 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
Investment insight
Sunshine Beach is a smaller community of 2,480 — about 45% of the Queensland suburb median (5,474) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. At $90,220/year, household income in Sunshine Beach is within 0% of the Queensland median ($90,298), placing the suburb firmly in the state's mainstream demographic band. Median rent of $995/week (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)) equates to roughly $4,312/month — about 199% of the $2,167/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census. On those figures rental income covers most or all of the recorded repayment, but repayments on new loans have risen with interest rates since 2021, so re-run the coverage at today's rates before treating this as a cash-flow suburb. Sunshine Beach is 119 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 37% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 77% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
Investment tip
This suburb can suit investors targeting renter demand driven by lifestyle. Insurance, climate risk, and seasonal rental patterns all warrant a close look. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 29% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Sunshine Beach vs Queensland median
How Sunshine Beach stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Sunshine Beach sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Sunshine Beach | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 2,480 | 5,474 | -55% |
| Median household income | $90,220/yr | $90,298/yr | 0% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $495 | $385 | +29% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $2,167 | $1,733 | +25% |
| Distance to CBD | 119 km | 62 km | +92% |
| Separate houses | 37% | 77% | -40pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Sunshine Beach — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 2,480 residents — 45% of the QLD suburb median (5,474).
- Purchasing power: median household income $90,220/year (+0% vs Queensland suburb median of $90,298).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $495/week rent (≈ $2,145/month) covered ~99% of the $2,167/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 119 km straight-line from Brisbane (state suburb median 62 km).
- Dwelling mix: 37% separate houses — unit-heavy market (vs 77% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$217/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $2,167/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 29% of the median household income is spent on rent — within normal range.
Investment strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 2,480 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Queensland market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $495/week (~$2,145/month) covered 99% of the $2,167/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $22/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
Only 37% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 77% QLD median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Risk factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $2,167/month median mortgage in Sunshine Beach means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $217/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Liquidity risk: with 2,480 residents, Sunshine Beach has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Commute distance: at 119 km from the nearest CBD, Sunshine Beach depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Strata exposure: only 37% of dwellings in Sunshine Beach are separate houses, so most investment stock is apartments or townhouses subject to body-corporate fees, sinking-fund levies and competing supply from new developments.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Sunshine Beach regardless of local market conditions.
Run the numbers on a Sunshine Beach property
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Start your journey near Sunshine Beach →2026 outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Sunshine Beach are modest for 2026 — incomes close to the QLD median of $90,298 and a population of 2,480 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~99% of the typical mortgage ($2,145/month rent vs $2,167/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Sunshine Beach is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Queensland median.
Frequently asked questions
Is Sunshine Beach a good suburb for investment?
Whether Sunshine Beach suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 2,480, a median household income of $90,220/year and median weekly rent of $495. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in Sunshine Beach?
The main demand drivers in Sunshine Beach are a median household income of $90,220/year, a dwelling mix that is 37% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Sunshine Beach?
Sunshine Beach has a usual resident population of approximately 2,480, compared with a Queensland suburb median of 5,474 — placing it in the lower half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
How far is Sunshine Beach from the Brisbane CBD?
Sunshine Beach sits 119 km straight-line from the Brisbane CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
What is the median rent in Sunshine Beach?
The median weekly rent in Sunshine Beach is $995 (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)), equating to approximately $51,740/year in gross rental income. Confirm against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Sunshine Beach?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Sunshine Beach is $2,167, or approximately $26,004/year (vs $1,733/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
Is Sunshine Beach cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $495 works out to $2,145/month, covering 99% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,167/month. That leaves a $22/month shortfall (around $264/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
What are the main risks of investing in Sunshine Beach?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (2,480 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,167 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (37% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, the broader Queensland market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
How we built this Sunshine Beach profile
The population figure on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census. The postcode comes from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. The dwelling mix is from the ABS 2021 Census. The median household income is the ABS 2021 Census median weekly household income, annualised. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage figures are 2021 figures and are labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. The current median weekly rent in Key indicators is a genuine recent figure from Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (Mar 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.