Manly: The Sydney suburb where backpackers and millionaires co-exist

“You can be down on the beach and to the left of your towel can be a backpacker and to the right of your towel can be someone who owns a $15 million mansion,” says Michael Clarke, who runs a local real-estate agency, Clarke & Humel with his wife, Cherie Humel.

“There’s an egalitarianism in Manly,” he adds.

The suburb, which occupies a curved strip of land separating Sydney Harbour from the northern beaches, has long lured surf-mad Sydneysiders and European travellers in search of a beach-town atmosphere. It’s also served as an entertainment hub for residents of the northern beaches, with an assortment of bars and eateries.

But in recent years, savvy buyers with deep pockets have begun eyeing up Manly’s most tranquil corners, creating a prestige market tier alongside the suburb’s more modest apartment stock. A fine-dining scene has developed in tandem.

“People are being drawn to Manly from all over Sydney right now,” says real estate agent Cherie Humel. “These are people who previously wouldn’t have considered Manly – people from Northbridge, Castlecrag, Neutral Bay, Mosman.”

As road congestion in Sydney worsens, Manly’s ferry service is becoming a major selling point, Humel adds. “People are finally starting to realise that you can jump on a fast ferry and be at Circular Quay within 15 minutes,” she says. “Not only is it one of the quickest ways to get into the city, it’s also the most beautiful.”

Price growth in Manly has been significant. According to Domain data, the median house price rose a whopping 125 per cent in the past five years, while the apartment median jumped 85 per cent.

“It’s been one of the fastest-growing areas of Sydney,” says Domain chief economist Andrew Wilson.

But there’s still huge variety on offer. In the past six months, the cheapest unit in Manly sold for just $450,000, while the most expensive house netted $9.53 million.

That puts the suburb within reach of first-home buyers. And for those at the top end, there’s value to be had.

“If you look at other places that are 15 minutes from the city by ferry, like Vaucluse and Rose Bay, you get a better lifestyle in Manly and a hell of a lot more property for your buck,” says Humel.

Long-time residents have watched with interest as the suburb has evolved. Freelance musician Jason Smith and his wife, a nurse educator, moved from Narrabeen to Manly in 1996. The couple now have two children, aged 11 and eight, who attend a local primary school.

“It was a little bit rough, I guess, when we first got here,” he says. “The pubs were open really quite late and we’d get a stream of drunks wandering past every weekend at all hours of the morning.”

Smith says the past two decades have been good for Manly. “Now it seems to have a good balance between community, entertainment and tourism,” he says. “And there’s a significant community feel now, which wasn’t as noticeable when we arrived.”

For buyers of modest means, Manly requires a degree of compromise. “The more affordable houses are small,” Smith says. “Periodically, in winter, we talk about the possibility of moving up the hill to Allambie to get some more space or a car park. But as soon as the weather’s nice, that just goes out the window.

“I mean, how many people have a beach at their front door?”

There’s a feeling that Manly is finally being recognised as a seriously attractive place to live, rather than just visit. “Demand remains well ahead of supply,” says Wilson.

Clarke concurs. “Properties are selling very quickly,” he says. “Nowadays, you aren’t just competing with Manly locals: they’re competing with all the other parts of Sydney that have woken up to what a fantastic lifestyle Manly has to offer.”