Upper North Shore buyers agents
Buying the school belt and the heritage estates, from Roseville to Wahroonga
On the Upper North Shore, timing and paperwork decide the price. We read both before you bid.
- What we do here
- We act only for the buyer, across the Upper North Shore from Roseville to Wahroonga, and from St Ives to West Pymble and Hornsby. We search, price, check, negotiate and see the purchase through to settlement.
- Whose side we are on
- Yours. You engage us and you pay us. The selling agent is engaged and paid by the seller, and in NSW no agent can act for both sides of the same sale.
- Who does the work
- Sarah and Mike, the two directors, on every search. Sarah was a selling agent for years before she crossed to the buyer's side; Mike spent twenty years in advisory.
- Off market
- Over 75% of the homes we secure are bought off market or before they reach the portals.
- What it costs
- A fixed fee agreed in writing before we start: $5,500 including GST to engage us, then a success fee that does not change if you buy a dearer home. Our buyers agent fees page sets out what it covers.
- How long it takes
- Most searches take six to eight weeks from brief to a secured home. Some take longer, and we will not hurry you into the wrong one.
- Buying from elsewhere
- Much of our work is for buyers living overseas or interstate who cannot inspect every Saturday. We become your eyes, ears and hands on the ground.
- Accreditation
- Members of REBAA and REINSW. Mike Kaye holds the GAICD from the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
The Upper North Shore property market, in one screen
Three findings from our spring report, taken from the NSW Valuer General's register of every settled sale, with Cotality's suburb estimates for detail. The squeeze is not where the headlines put it, and that changes how you should buy.
What the typical winter seller made on the price they paid. One in three sold for less. A year earlier the typical gain was 10 per cent.
Register, the same homes resold after an 18-month to five-year hold, contracts June to August 2026, ten suburbs from Roseville to Hornsby.
Winter sales between $2.5 million and $4 million, against a normal winter. In that band the typical gain fell from 14 per cent to 3.5, and more than one in three sold at a loss. The family band is where the squeeze sits.
Register, contracts June to August 2026 settled by 3 September, against the average of 2024 and 2025.
Sales above $10 million so far this year, against four by the same time last year. At the very top, what comes up is selling.
Register, contracts January to August.
What that means for how you buy
- Price the band, not the suburb. Roseville, Lindfield and Killara fell least. The family houses between $2.5 million and $4 million fell most, wherever they sit. We price every home from recorded sales of comparable homes around it, not from a suburb average.
- Expect fewer homes than the calendar suggests. Owners who bought in 2024 barely broke even this year, and most will stay put unless they have to move, so spring supply will be thin. Have your finance, brief and checks ready before the right home appears.
- If you are upsizing, the window is open, but narrowing. The home you would sell held its value through winter; the larger home you want did not. Each rate rise shrinks the loan that bridges the gap, so do the borrowing sums first.
Read the full Upper North Shore house prices report for spring 2026, or see how the Upper and Lower North Shore compare.
Which Upper North Shore buyer are you?
The same district asks different things of different buyers. These are the four we meet most often.
Upsizing into the school belt
The family houses between $2.5 million and $4 million are where values fell most and where fewer rivals are bidding. Catchments do not follow suburb lines, so we confirm the school for the exact address before you fall for the house.
Downsizing to single-level living
The trade runs against you for now: you sell into the softer house market and buy into the firmer one. Unit prices held flat through winter, and Wahroonga is the only suburb where unit values rose. Price your sale for the market you are in, and have the purchase ready.
Knockdown-rebuild and big blocks
Here the block matters more than the house on it. We check the zoning, heritage, bushfire, height and floor-space controls, and the state's Major Projects register for the lots next door and behind, and we bring a builder to scope and cost the work before you commit.
Buying from overseas or interstate
We inspect in person, send video and notes the same day, run every check and bid on your instructions, on your time zone. Some clients first walk through the door at settlement.
Upper North Shore suburbs and prices
What actually sold in each suburb over the year to September 2026, and how Cotality's estimate of house values moved over the year. Open a suburb for our guide to its streets, schools and prices.
Roseville to Killara
| Suburb | House median | Unit median | House value, 12 mths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roseville | $4.18m | $1.01m | −5.5% |
| Lindfield | $4.12m | $1.29m | −5.3% |
| Killara | $3.97m | $1.08m | −8.3% |
Gordon and Pymble
| Suburb | House median | Unit median | House value, 12 mths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gordon | $3.70m | $0.93m | −18.7%* |
| Pymble | $3.75m | $0.95m | −12.3% |
| West Pymble | † | † | † |
Turramurra to Wahroonga
| Suburb | House median | Unit median | House value, 12 mths |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turramurra | $3.30m | $0.84m | −8.9% |
| North Turramurra | † | † | † |
| South Turramurra | † | † | † |
| Warrawee | $3.51m | $0.91m | −6.7% |
| Wahroonga | $2.85m | $1.20m | −10.9% |
Median sale prices are Cotality's trailing twelve-month medians at 24 September 2026. House value change is Cotality's median value estimate, August 2026 against August 2025. * Gordon's value reading is the thinnest in the set: read it as a direction, not a number. † Not in the spring report's suburb set; see the suburb guide. The register analysis behind the findings above is in the spring 2026 report. Updated each spring and autumn.
You deal with the directors, not a junior
Sarah Kaye
Our Founder was a selling agent before she moved to the buyer's side. She knows how the other side works because it used to be her job, and she will tell you when a property is wrong for you.
Mike Kaye
Our Co-Founder spent twenty years in advisory, as a Global Partner at Accenture, and holds the GAICD. He runs the register analysis behind every price we put to you, including the figures on this page.
Our three sons went all the way through Knox in Wahroonga, so the drop-off routes, the bus timetables and the 8am traffic on the Pacific Highway are not research to us.
What clients say when it is over.
“Sarah and Mike are an absolute delight to work with. They helped me find my first home on the upper north shore recently, and kept me informed and supported every step of the way through the process from finding the property, to getting it insured after completion. I am currently working in the UK so they were my main eyes and ears in Sydney.”
Emily Martin · May 2026 · bought on the Upper North Shore from the UK
“Their insights were invaluable and they truly balances their advice across the financial considerations (capital growth, improvement upside etc) with the more immeasurable considerations (proximity to schools, local amenities etc).”
Dean Jones · May 2026
“Sarah and Mike provided unfiltered, practical, and to-the-point advice without any of the usual sales fluff.”
Priyam Yogesh · October 2025
How we buy on the Upper North Shore
- 1
Brief
We start by listening: suburbs, schools, budget, the way you want to live, deal-breakers. If the brief and the budget do not meet, we say so first.
- 2
Search
On market and off, through the selling agents we deal with every week from Roseville to Wahroonga.
- 3
Price and check
Every price from recorded comparable sales. The contract, building and pest, strata where it applies, and the planning checks: zoning, heritage, bushfire and the state's Major Projects register.
- 4
Secure and settle
We negotiate or bid to a limit you set, then manage everything through to settlement.
One fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start and not a percentage of the price. What it covers is set out on our buyers agent fees page.
Upper North Shore buyers agent questions
What people ask us before they buy on the Upper North Shore, answered plainly.
What does an Upper North Shore buyers agent do?
An Upper North Shore buyers agent acts only for the buyer. We take your brief, search on and off market, inspect and shortlist, price each home from recorded sales of comparable homes nearby, run the checks (contract, building and pest, zoning, heritage and nearby development), negotiate or bid at auction to a limit you set, and manage everything through to settlement. Sarah and Mike do the work themselves.
Which suburbs are on the Upper North Shore?
There is no official boundary. Most people mean the Ku-ring-gai council area plus Hornsby: Roseville, Roseville Chase, Lindfield, East Lindfield, Killara, East Killara, Gordon, Pymble, West Pymble, Turramurra, North Turramurra, South Turramurra, Warrawee, Wahroonga, North Wahroonga, St Ives, St Ives Chase and Hornsby. Chatswood and the suburbs south of Roseville are usually counted as the Lower North Shore.
What are the most expensive suburbs on the Upper North Shore?
Of the ten suburbs in our spring report, Cotality's August 2026 estimates put Roseville highest for houses at $3.70 million, just ahead of Lindfield at $3.69 million and Killara at $3.57 million. By actual sales over the year to September, the same three lead: Roseville at $4.18 million, Lindfield at $4.12 million and Killara at $3.97 million. The dearest suburbs on the whole North Shore sit on the Lower North Shore, led by Mosman.
Are Upper North Shore house prices falling?
They eased over winter, and not where you might expect. On the register, the typical seller of a home resold after an 18-month to five-year hold made 2.5 per cent this winter, against 10 per cent a year earlier, and about a third of house sellers took a loss. Cotality has the dearest suburbs down least over the year to August, 5 to 8 per cent for Roseville, Lindfield and Killara, with Wahroonga, St Ives, Pymble and Gordon down 11 to 19 per cent. Every suburb is still 32 to 41 per cent above August 2020. Our spring report sets out every suburb.
How much does a buyers agent cost on the Upper North Shore?
Buyers agents charge either a percentage of the price or a fixed fee. We charge a fixed fee, agreed in writing before we start: an engagement fee, then a success fee that does not change with the price you pay. It is the same on the Upper North Shore, the Lower North Shore and the Northern Beaches, and our fees page sets out what it covers.
How do school catchments work on the Upper North Shore?
Public school catchments are set by the NSW Department of Education and do not follow suburb boundaries, so one street can sit in one catchment and the next street in another. We confirm the catchment for the exact address on the Department's School Finder before you commit. Private schools set their own enrolment timing, often years ahead. We have done this ourselves: our three sons went all the way through Knox in Wahroonga, so we know the drop-offs, the buses and the 8am traffic.
How do heritage and the new housing rules affect Upper North Shore homes?
Three things change what you can do with a block here. Heritage: many streets sit in heritage conservation areas and some homes are listed heritage items, which limits alterations and demolition. The Low and Mid-Rise housing rules allow more homes on some lots within walking distance of nominated stations and town centres, though not on land with a heritage item, and since October 2025 Ku-ring-gai has required a minimum lot size of 1,015 square metres for a dual occupancy. And Ku-ring-gai's own Transport Oriented Development scheme, in force since 14 November 2025, allows buildings of up to eight storeys around Roseville and Killara stations and taller around Gordon and Lindfield; it sits in the council's height and floor-space maps rather than on the state's map. Large apartment projects can also be approved by the state as State Significant Development, and an approval will not show on any zoning map. So we check the zoning, height, heritage and the state's Major Projects register for the home, the street and the lots behind it.
Do you buy for clients living overseas or interstate?
Yes, often. We inspect in person, send video and notes, run the checks, and negotiate or bid on your instructions, on your time zone. Some clients first see the home in person at settlement. If you are not an Australian citizen, check the foreign investment rules first: buying an established home is heavily restricted for most foreign buyers at present, and we will check your position before we start.
Upper North Shore research, from the register
Buying closer to the harbour? Our Lower North Shore buyers agents page covers Mosman to Lane Cove. For choosing between the two, see our North Shore buyers agents overview.
Buying on the Upper North Shore? Talk to us first.
Thirty minutes on Zoom with Sarah or Mike, free. Tell us the suburb, the school, the budget and the timing, and we will tell you plainly how we would approach it, or whether you need us at all.
Book a Zoom callPrefer to write? Send your brief through the contact page, or call 1300 500 053.