Hornsby buyers agent

About the suburb

Hornsby at a glance

Hornsby sits about 23 kilometres north-west of the city and is the administrative centre of Hornsby Shire. It takes its name from Samuel Henry Horne, a convict turned constable who was granted land he called Hornsby Place after helping capture two bushrangers in 1830.

Apartments make up the larger share of the homes that change hands, alongside family houses on the streets further out, and just over half of homes are lived in by their owners. Couples with children are the largest household group, and the most common age group is 30 to 39.

Hornsby has been a busy town centre for more than a century. The western side keeps a traditional high street along the Old Pacific Highway, while the eastern side holds the court house, the council chambers and Westfield. Old Mans Valley and the former Hornsby Quarry are part of its history, and the Hornsby Water Clock is a local landmark.

Hornsby station is the junction of the North Shore and Northern lines, with trains to the city both ways and intercity services to the Central Coast and Newcastle. Barker College and Hornsby Girls' High School, a selective school, are here, along with several public primary schools and a TAFE campus.

The trade-offs are worth saying plainly. Around the town centre, the building is the decision: strata records, levies, defects and planned works all need checking. Homes near the railway and the Pacific Highway carry noise. Hornsby is in Hornsby Shire, not Ku-ring-gai, so the planning rules differ from the suburbs to the south.