Suburb overview
Shearwater is a regional centre in Tasmania, Australia, with a population of approximately 2,051, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 203 km from the Hobart CBD, Shearwater is a regional area in Tasmania. The median household income is $57,408 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
7307
Postcode for Shearwater, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
2,051
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$500/wk
Median weekly rent — as at May 2025 – Apr 2026, Department of Justice (Tasmania) rental bonds (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
203 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,500/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
78% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in Shearwater
- Regional location about 203 km from Hobart.
- Predominantly separate houses (78%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
- Country-town feel with lower density and slower pace of life.
Who Shearwater suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Lower purchase prices and more land for the money.
- Established infrastructure and existing community base.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (203 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment insight
Shearwater is a smaller community of 2,051 — about 53% of the Tasmania suburb median (3,902) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Shearwater's median household income of $57,408/year is 22% below the Tasmania suburb median ($73,944) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. Median rent of $500/week (as at May 2025 – Apr 2026, Department of Justice (Tasmania) rental bonds) equates to roughly $2,167/month — about 144% of the $1,500/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. Shearwater is 203 km from Hobart, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment tip
Regional property can deliver strong cash-flow yields but liquidity is tighter — plan for longer hold periods and verify local employment stability. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 27% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Shearwater vs Tasmania median
How Shearwater stacks up against the median of all Tasmania suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Shearwater sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Shearwater | TAS median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 2,051 | 3,902 | -47% |
| Median household income | $57,408/yr | $73,944/yr | -22% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $295 | $320 | -8% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,500 | $1,378 | +9% |
| Distance to CBD | 203 km | 24 km | +746% |
| Separate houses | 78% | 80% | -2pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Shearwater — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 2,051 residents — 53% of the TAS suburb median (3,902).
- Purchasing power: median household income $57,408/year (-22% vs Tasmania suburb median of $73,944).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $295/week rent (≈ $1,278/month) covered ~85% of the $1,500/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 203 km straight-line from Hobart (state suburb median 24 km).
- Dwelling mix: 78% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 80% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$150/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,500/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 27% of the median household income is spent on rent — within normal range.
Investment strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 2,051 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Tasmania market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $295/week (~$1,278/month) covered 85% of the $1,500/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $222/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
With 78% houses in a 2,051-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Risk factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,500/month median mortgage in Shearwater means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $150/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in Shearwater are 22% below the Tasmania median ($57,408 vs $73,944), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Liquidity risk: with 2,051 residents, Shearwater 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 203 km from the nearest CBD, Shearwater depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Shearwater regardless of local market conditions.
Run the numbers on a Shearwater property
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Start your journey near Shearwater →2026 outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Shearwater are modest for 2026 — incomes 22% below the TAS median of $73,944 and a population of 2,051 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~85% of the typical mortgage ($1,278/month rent vs $1,500/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Shearwater is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Tasmania median.
Frequently asked questions
Is Shearwater a good suburb for investment?
Whether Shearwater suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 2,051, a median household income of $57,408/year and median weekly rent of $295. 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 Shearwater?
The main demand drivers in Shearwater are a median household income of $57,408/year, a dwelling mix that is 78% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Shearwater?
Shearwater has a usual resident population of approximately 2,051, compared with a Tasmania suburb median of 3,902 — 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 Shearwater from the Hobart CBD?
Shearwater sits 203 km straight-line from the Hobart 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 Shearwater?
The median weekly rent in Shearwater is $500 (as at May 2025 – Apr 2026, Department of Justice (Tasmania) rental bonds), equating to approximately $26,000/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 Shearwater?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Shearwater is $1,500, or approximately $18,000/year (vs $1,378/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 Shearwater cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $295 works out to $1,278/month, covering 85% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,500/month. That leaves a $222/month shortfall (around $2,664/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 Shearwater?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (2,051 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,500 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($57,408 vs $73,944 state median), the broader Tasmania 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 Shearwater 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 Department of Justice (Tasmania) rental bonds (May 2025 – Apr 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.