Short-stay and mid-term management in Double Bay
Double Bay is the eastern-suburbs market that fills. Occupancy averaged 73.2% over the year and ran above 80% in five separate months. It does it on the lowest nightly rate of the three suburbs covered here, A$476, which makes it the volume end of this part of Sydney rather than the trophy end — a steadier calendar, a smaller rate, and a property that is working most weeks instead of a few.
How we read this market
MetaWise has run short-stay property across Sydney since 2009, and reads Double Bay with the same revenue tools it prices its own calendars with. The figures on this page come from the PriceLabs short-term rental index for the Double Bay official boundary — an average of 57 active listings over the twelve months to September 2026 — so each one can be traced to its source rather than taken on trust. They are averages across that market, modelled from listing data rather than audited accounts. They are the market's numbers, not ours: we do not publish our owners' figures.
Demand
What actually fills a calendar here
A village that is also a business address
The offices, clinics and consulting rooms around Cross Street and New South Head Road bring a weekday guest the beach suburbs do not get: someone in town for a week of meetings, a course of treatment, or a project. That is what five months above 80% occupancy is made of, and it is not tourism.
The ferry and Edgecliff station
A ferry to Circular Quay and a station one stop from Kings Cross make this an easy address without a car. For a corporate or medical guest that removes the parking question entirely, which in this part of Sydney is worth more than it sounds.
Occupancy bought at a sensible rate
At A$476 a night Double Bay sits well below Vaucluse's A$845 and below Woollahra's A$565, and fills far more of the year than either. The annual revenue per listing, around A$117,300, is the lowest of the three — but it comes from a calendar that is busy most weeks rather than a few.
The back half of the year softened
Revenue per available night in June 2026 fell 31.2% against June a year earlier. The first half of the year was strong and the second half was not, so a plan built on the annual average alone will overstate the winter. This is the number most likely to be left out of a pitch, which is why it is here.
Property types
What works here
- One and two-bedroom apartments within walking distance of the village, which is where the weekday demand sits
- Apartments near Edgecliff station for guests who want the CBD without a car
- Larger apartments and townhouses that suit a relocation or a project stay rather than a weekend
Operations
What makes it hard
- A property at 73.2% occupancy turns over far more often than one at 50%. Cleaning, linen and the time between guests are the operational centre of this market, not an afterthought.
- Winter is the softer half. June occupancy fell to 56.7% against 88.2% in February, and June revenue per available night was down 31.2% year-on-year. The rate has to move with it.
- Building access matters. Many of the apartment buildings here have a single lift, restricted loading times and a building manager whose rules decide what a turnover looks like.
Rules
Compliance in this area
General information about how the NSW framework applies here, not advice on your building.
- Double Bay sits inside Greater Sydney, so non-hosted short-term rental accommodation is capped at 180 nights a year and the property must carry an STRA registration number.
- At 73.2% occupancy the cap is a live constraint here, not a theoretical one: that rate of filling runs past 180 nights inside the year. Which nights are sold short-term, and which are let as longer stays, becomes a planning decision rather than an afterthought.
- Bookings of 21 consecutive days or more are generally not counted toward the cap, and the weekday corporate and medical demand in this suburb supports exactly that kind of stay.
- Woollahra Municipal Council applies the state STRA framework. The by-law of the individual strata scheme is still the first thing to check, and in an apartment market this dense it is the thing most likely to stop a property outright.
Coverage
Suburbs we service from here
Double Bay · Edgecliff · Darling Point · Point Piper · Bellevue Hill surrounds
Questions
Double Bay — five months above 80% occupancy — frequently asked
Is a lower nightly rate a worse result?
Not necessarily. Double Bay averaged A$476 at 73.2% occupancy, against Vaucluse at A$845 and 50.7%. The annual revenue per listing is lower, around A$117,300 against A$173,500, but it comes from a steadier calendar and usually a smaller property with a smaller cost base. Which is better depends on the property, not on the headline rate.
Does the 180-night cap bite in Double Bay?
Yes, more than in most of the east. At 73.2% occupancy a property is filling about 267 nights a year, and the cap on non-hosted short stays is 180. Bookings of 21 consecutive days or more are generally not counted toward it, which is why the weekday corporate and medical demand here is strategically useful and not just commercially useful.
What is the risk in this market?
The second half of the year. June 2026 revenue per available night was 31.2% below June a year earlier, and occupancy fell to 56.7% against 88.2% in February. The annual average of 73.2% is real, but it is the sum of a strong summer and a soft winter, and a budget built on the average alone will be wrong in both halves.