Oak Flats real estate

Oak Flats sits on the southern shore of Lake Illawarra, next to Mount Warrigal and Blackbutt, with Balarang at its eastern end. Its subdivision began in 1925 with the Lake Illawarra Township Estate, and in the 1930s it was a holiday spot for Sydney visitors. It grew quickly after the war, when many Dutch, German and Finnish migrants came for affordable housing and built homes here.

Most homes date from the 1950s to the 1970s, many since renovated, extended or replaced, with townhouses on some redeveloped sites. Central Avenue, the main street, was laid out so that it frames the view north over the lake to Mount Kembla. It is a settled family suburb, with its own station, schools and lake foreshore.

Council

Shellharbour City Council

From our Shell Cove office

About 5 km

Population (2021 Census)

6,840

Median age

42

The foreshore has parks, picnic spots and a shared path for walking and cycling that runs east around the lake toward Shellharbour Village. Central Avenue has the local shopping strip, and Oak Flats station sits at its southern end on the South Coast Line, with trains to Wollongong and Sydney. The M1 Princes Motorway has its southern interchange at Oak Flats, and Stockland Shellharbour is close by.

Oak Flats Public School on Central Avenue was the first school in the area, opening in the early 1950s. Oak Flats High School, on The Esplanade, overlooks the lake, with Balarang Public School beside it, and Corpus Christi Catholic High School is also in the suburb. The TAFE NSW Shellharbour campus is on College Avenue, close to the City Centre.

Public schools in Oak Flats

• Balarang Public School · Primary School
• Oak Flats High School · Secondary School
• Oak Flats Public School · Primary School

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Oak Flats (SAL13064). © Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0. Tenure shares are of occupied private dwellings and don't add to 100% where some households didn't say.

Oak Flats buyers weigh the lake and the station. Homes on or near the foreshore, and level blocks within walking distance of the station and Central Avenue, are the most contested. Many houses are post-war originals, so condition, renovation and the size of the block for a rebuild or a second dwelling shape the price. We sell across Oak Flats from our office in Shell Cove.

Renting it out instead? We manage rental homes in Oak Flats too, where houses in the postcode lease for around $810 a week.