DA Notice

Suburbs / Lake Macquarie / Catherine Hill Bay

NSW Planning fileLake Macquarie City Council2281Updated daily

Catherine Hill BayDA activity & market read

Every council DA in Catherine Hill Bay, the work behind it, and who's building. Tradies get the new ones texted every Monday, filtered to their trade.

943
Population
37
Median age
$2,628/wk
Household income
33
DAs (12 mo)
$970k
Median house
$440k
Median DA cost
● About the area · cited

The town of Cowper was created, to serve as a base for coal mining by the New Wallsend Company in 1873 with the first shipment on 17 December of that year. Source ↗

● What the data says

Catherine Hill Bay runs new dwelling first, with swimming pool / spa (148) close behind: new dwelling leads at 189 of 403 DAs on record. A Prestige-tier market on a $970k median, a typical job runs $440k, approvals are up 3% year on year.

$96k
118 Surfside Drive
Dwelling house · 14 Sep 2026
$300k
28 Stollard Street
Dwelling house · 9 Sep 2026
$46k
21 Woodbury Circuit
Erection of a new structure · 7 Sep 2026
$3.18M
32 Hale Street
Erection of a new structure · 20 Aug 2026
$243k
Hale Street
Erection of a new structure · 30 Jul 2026
$884k
86 Surfside Drive
Dwelling house · 27 Jul 2026
$710k
10 Montefiore Parkway
Subdivision · 10 Jul 2026
$1.26M
7 Gillespie Street
Dwelling house · 17 Jun 2026
$19k
30 Woodbury Circuit
Erection of a new structure · 17 Jun 2026
$1.7M
39 Silkstone Circuit
Dwelling house · 16 Jun 2026
$798k
8 Gillespie Street
Dwelling house · 15 Jun 2026
$12k
15 Woodbury Circuit
Shed · 2 Jun 2026
Withdrawn
New Home , 9 Sep 2026
$46k
New Home , 7 Sep 2026
$3.18m
New Home , 20 Aug 2026
$884k
New Home , 27 Jul 2026
$19k
New Home , 17 Jun 2026
$1.26m
New Home , 17 Jun 2026
$1.7m
New Home , 16 Jun 2026
$798k
New Home , 15 Jun 2026
$865k
New Home , 27 May 2026
$1.48m
New Home , 11 May 2026
$1.9m
New Home , 30 Apr 2026
$14k
Deck or Pergola , 28 Apr 2026
$2.75m
New Home , 24 Apr 2026
$130k
Granny Flat , 21 Apr 2026
Rebuild market

47% of approvals are new builds or demolitions, so knock-down-rebuild is a genuine slice here, not just extensions.

Big-ticket jobs

the typical $440k approval is about 45% of the $970k median home, these are substantial transformations, not cosmetic touch-ups.

Lifestyle spend

37% of approvals are pools, decks and fencing, a discretionary-spend signal for pool, landscape and fencing trades.

$3.18M
32 Hale Street
Erection of a new structure · 20 Aug 2026
$3M
71 Flowers Drive
Dwelling · 30 May 2022
$2.75M
41 Silkstone Circuit
Dwelling house · 24 Apr 2026
$2.4M
50 Silkstone Circuit
Dwelling house · 23 Oct 2025
$2.16M
37 Silkstone Circuit
Dwelling house · 8 Oct 2025

DAs lodged

Monthly, last 24 months (real NSW ePlanning data)
403
Total on record
33
Last 12 months
$440k
Median cost
1110

What they're building

All 403 DAs by category
New Dwelling189
Swimming Pool / Spa148
Renovation / Extension31
Granny Flat / Secondary13
Deck / Balcony / Fence9
Other5
Subdivision3
Garage / Shed / Carport3
0-4
5-14
15-19
20-24
25-34
35-44
45-54
55-64
65-74
75-84
85+
The biggest age band here is 5-14 (148 residents). Real ABS 2021 census bands, the resident profile behind who renovates, extends and builds.
Nords Wharf Public School
Primary · Nords Wharf

NSW public schools within ~3.5 km. Source: NSW Department of Education schools master dataset.

Which council handles development applications in Catherine Hill Bay?
Catherine Hill Bay sits in the Lake Macquarie City Council area. DA Notice pulls every DA Lake Macquarie City Council lodges for Catherine Hill Bay from the public NSW Planning Portal.
How many development approvals are there in Catherine Hill Bay?
In the last 365 days, Lake Macquarie City Council lodged 33 development applications in Catherine Hill Bay. We text you the new ones each Monday, filtered to your trade.
How do I get DA alerts for Catherine Hill Bay?
A weekly SMS, every Monday morning, listing the new DAs in Catherine Hill Bay that match your trade. No app. Reply STOP to cancel.
What does DA Notice cost?
$35 a month, cancel anytime by replying STOP to any text.

The DAs land Monday 6am.
You call before the street knows.

One trade, one area, weekly. Every new Catherine Hill Bay approval that matches your trade, texted with the address and the job. $35/month, reply STOP anytime.