Sydney’s Housing Targets, Rezoning & What It Means for BuyersPacific Property Buyers | November 2025

It feels like every week the conversation around Sydney’s housing market takes another turn. The reality is clear: our city is growing fast, and how we plan for that growth will shape not just the property market, but the way future generations live, work, and connect. This month, the Minns Government doubled down on its target of 377,000 new homes by 2029, a figure that’s already reshaping the landscape for buyers, developers, and local communities alike.

One of the most significant changes is the creation of a centralised Housing Delivery Authority, a “single front door” designed to fast-track approvals and cut through Sydney’s notorious planning red tape. For anyone who’s navigated the city’s development maze, this is long overdue recognition that the old system hasn’t been working.

Rezoning proposals are now landing across major corridors, Parramatta Road (up to 8,000 homes), Burwood (15,000), and Woollahra/Edgecliff (10,000 plus a new train station). Even blue-chip suburbs like Mosman and Paddington are in the spotlight, debating higher-density living and the trade-offs that come with it. Meanwhile, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) has called for mandatory affordable-housing quotas in high-amenity suburbs such as Chatswood, Randwick, and Tamarama, a move aimed at preventing concentrated disadvantage as Sydney densifies.

From where we sit as Sydney buyer’s agents, these announcements go far beyond supply and demand. For our clients, families, professionals, and investors, the real questions are bigger than how many homes are being built. It’s about where those homes are located, what kind of communities they create, and how they connect to the rest of the city.

Today’s buyers are evaluating not just price and size, but transport, schools, walkability, and long-term capital growth. Rezoning without vision, however, can be risky. Dropping thousands of new apartments into a suburb doesn’t automatically equal progress. True growth means creating neighbourhoods people actually want to live in, places with character, vibrancy, and connection.

The debate around higher-density housing in prestige postcodes like Mosman, Paddington, and Woollahra is about more than zoning metrics. It’s about balancing heritage and amenity with the reality that Sydney can’t keep sprawling outward. There’s genuine appetite for both: the charm of established neighbourhoods and the convenience of modern precincts. The challenge is striking that balance, respecting the past while planning for the future.

It’s easy to react to planning announcements with a simple yes or no. The harder question is this: what kind of Sydney are we building for the next 10, 20, or 50 years? Are we creating homes, or communities? Are we responding to today’s headlines, or planning for the generations who’ll live here next?

Growth done right requires collaboration, between government, developers, industry, and everyday Sydneysiders. For us at Pacific Property Buyers, it’s about helping clients make confident, well-informed decisions amid this evolving landscape. Because when you understand where the market is heading, from rezoning zones to infrastructure rollouts, you don’t just buy a property, you buy long-term value.

If you’re considering buying in Sydney and want clarity on how these planning shifts could impact you, let’s talk. At Pacific Property Buyers, we combine local knowledge, off-market access, and negotiation strategy to help you buy with confidence, today and for the future.

👉 www.pacificpb.com.au/contactus