Mayfield, NSW 2304

I’ve lived in many different suburbs, east, west, north and south. Mayfield tops them all. Lovely wide, quiet streets, invoking peace and tranquility, Once you hit Maitland Road from the Stag and zHunter Hotel to the end of Mayfield is vibrant, lively and the best supermarkets in Newcastle, cafes, bargain shops, antique shops, restaurants and cafes.

I have lived in merewether, Newcastle, cooks hill, Hamilton and Broadmeadow, and mayfield has been by far the friendliest and safest. The neighbours in Carrington st are the best, we were greeted with smiles and a vege box. There’s a gorgeous park and bowlo where the community gathers and the houses are all being renovated. I wouldn’t live anywhere else. The cafe scene is taking off, and I’ve never felt unsafe or had any crime in my 6 years here.

Mayfield is arguably one of the most popular suburbs in Newcastle right now, the area itself is going through gentrification which means that you will find more young families moving in and money being spent to open up new cafe’s and improve parkland etc.

With rental prices on the rise, Mayfield would be a perfect location for investment. I am here to help if you have any questions please do not hesitate to give me a call.

Casey Healey
Director/ BDM/ Licensed Real Estate Agent
Century21 Novocastrian Property Management
02 49287400| [email protected]

A great little hub with access to a variety of shops and a large woolworths. Access to transport. Alot of renovated cottages and mayfield is very central to newcastle.
Does have areas of lower social economics.

I have be reading some of these comments, a little amused and somewhat perplexed as to the crime/violence rate.
I moved down from Cairns QLD. To Mayfield now Cairns has a very high crime rate and I wouldn't walk anywhere at night.
Here I walk to the Mayfield bowlo, for a great feed, I couldn't do that in Cairns I wouldn't get there in one piece.
I picked Mayfield for vibe and the good mix of people and yes its out there sometimes, but...there's so much to do.
I think people have to snap out of their mind set and rut.
Its fabulous

Moved here over five years ago and have witnessed the change first hand. We received raised eyebrows and jokes when we announced we were moving to the suburb, but since then property prices have soared on the back of emerging coffee shops, restaurants and a growing feeling of community supported by social media and events. There are still some less than approachable people that hang around the main street, shops etc, however in saying that, we've never had any sort of problem with crime. We love having a train station, pubs, cafes, gym, parks and shops within a couple of minutes walking distance, the beach 15 minutes drive and a short drive to Westfield, football stadium, expressway, etc.

when I walked back home with my friends after shopping at night, some local teenagers had spoken racially offensive words to my friends and I. All of us did nothing and did not know these people, but one of local teenagers had even tried to attack my friend and threw an empty bottle in front of us. we also experienced several other insulting cases especially at night and already moved out from here. If You are an international student who has limited English skill and plan to move here, it is better for you to take a further consideration.

I know that many long term Novocastrians think poorly of Mayfield. Some of this is jealousy because they have not benefited from the revitalization. Mayfield is one of the only complete suburbs in Newcastle and it is being slowly reinvented. It has most of the services that we take for granted in wealthier parts of Australia. Most other suburbs don't. It is becoming a more vibrant inner city suburb, as is Islington, mainly because newcomers to the area think it has promise. It has been chosen to receive a multi million dollar investment by Coles. It has the largest supply of quality large heritage homes suitable for family life, as examples.
I do not believe we have any more drug houses here than say Merewether, Newcastle's most expensive suburb, where sadly they supply the very large public housing complex aptly called the "Bronx" and where life is vulnerable and crime is rife. The people involved in all of this ugly stuff look the same no matter where you live and Mayfield definitely still has its fair share of this.
Having said this, companies choose Mayfield to provide for aged care and intellectually and physically disabled care within the community. They chose Mayfield to care for them, because it has all the services, is relatively safe, good housing stock, close to beaches and city - and is affordable too! I think that says everything. Its a no brainer for most of us!

We've lived here for 5 years now and love it. So close to the beaches, shopping, town etc. Everything we need within a 20 min drive. House prices have increased lately, probably because so many young families are snapping up cheap houses and renovating, like us. Our neighbours are great, the type that now your front lawn when they're doing their own & as he's in the newspaper business, he leaves one at our door every morning.
We moved from the north shore of Sydney as we didn't want to pay 500k for a 1 bed apt on the highway. We decided to move to Newcastle, came up all the time to drive around & get a feel for it. We discovered Mayfield & loved all the little cottages with decent backyards. We didn't know of its reputation (as a working class suburb full of mental health cases and bogans) but it seems most have been priced out. Yes, there is still the odd dodgy but never an issue. All those who still feel Mayfield is a crap hole need to get with the times. It's a booming suburb with a community feel, lots of families, a huge Woolies, Aldi & a new Coles on the way.

We have lived in mayfield for 6 years and love it. Sure, there are what we describe as 'mayfield moments' especially around Woollies, where the occasional odd bod and druggie abounds but generally we have felt perfectly safe and happy here. We can get on a bus and be in the city in 10 minutes, have a meal and a drink,and catch a bus back so it is very convenient. And driving to the beach also only take 10 -15 minutes. There are a few salt-of-the -earth types and some folk with mental illness but, hey, that is part of the vibe of the place. We have a lovely old home that was bought at an excellent price and we have also sold houses in Mayfield at a great profit. It has gays, lesbians, families, the elderly from lots of different ethnic backgrounds, students, musos and artists and academics. And it has a a couple of ok cafes and a reasonable Thai and not bad fish n chips. So relax, say g'day and move to mayfield.

Mayfield is a fantastic little suburb of Newcastle. It has a blend of older folk who have lived and worked in the suburb all their lives, mixed with younger families moving into the area. It has a seedy side, particularly around Woolworths and down towards the train line, but that just adds to its appeal! In the 1880s up until 1913 when BHP moved to Mayfield, it was the Toorak or Vaucluse of Newcastle. This is also evident from a lot of the older houses in the area. The substation on the corner of Waratah & Fitzroy Streets, for example, was built in 1905 and is now heritage listed. It was built so as to blend in with the houses in the area. It has so much history and was the place of the first vineyard in the Hunter. Mayfield is a working suburb. It has energy and is alive. The people are wonderful and friendly, just go down to the pub or chat to your neighbour! You almost feel like you're in a timewarp!

We've owned a house in Mayfield for a couple of years now. It's up the hill a bit, a couple of hundred metres from the main road. We moved in from a "quiet" Sydney suburb to get closer to the University and hospitals, and have found the people friendly and the street really peaceful and quiet through the day and night.
Buses to Newcastle and the University go past the front door, but it's sometimes easier to walk down to Maitland Road where public transport abounds. Driving is easy in all directions.
We have plenty of shops nearby to cater for our daily needs, and prices are low, but you might need to head off to Kotara or even Charlestown for the big furniture or department stores.
You might need to travel outside your suburb for your ideal occupation (I'm sure most people in Sydney and Newcastle would), but there is still more retail, service, government and industry work within walking distance of our house in Mayfield than there would be in most suburbs. With the area going more upmarket the opportunities for trades and services catering to the renovating houseproud locals can only be getting even better.
In the summer, Mayfield gets cooler ocean breezes that make all the difference on hot days, and I understand the people further west often miss out on.
Although we don't have any young children ourselves, there are plenty of local schools and the kids seem quite well behaved to me.
I think Mayfield must have changed a lot over the last few years because we heard a few Newcastle residents with negative viewpoints about Mayfield they developed from the past or heard from others, and they still seem to be looking for things to criticise even when there isn't much there! Moving to Mayfield was a good decision for my family, and it seems to look better each year.

Despite the claims of many who have lived in Mayfield for some time, the reality is different. The heroin houses are still plentiful Just ring Waratah Police Station and ask them how many known heroin houses are in Mayfield. Where I live there are about 4 within walking distance. Claims of a renaissance are a little bit premature. Prostitution is slipping over the Tighes Hill Railway Bridge and the reality is that there is no resolve to actually fix it. Assualts are still a regular occurence. I do not let my children walk the streets at night. Recently a friend of mine was badly beaten in Mayfield. People living here want to sell the place up, the vested interests of such 'glowing reviews' should be obvious - it improves there property values. My advice before buying ANYWHERE in Mayfield contact the local police as your dream little cottage renovated by some local could turn into a living hell if your neighbours are junkies. Check whether there are local shooting galleries near your prospective new home, investigate the laneways as used needles are a common problem.

Mayfield remains cheap. Alot of investors have bought up many properties and a sizeable number of the residents are tenants. Tenants are not owners, they more regularly move. Students are fine. Normals families are very hospitable and you get to know people very quickly by just walking around and saying g'day. However, there remains an underclass here that is quite concerning. Violence is a reality in this suburb, especially late at night.

Familes with young children (babies) should be fine. But once your kids hit teenage years you really do not want them growing up in Mayfield. But as a place to start it is terrific value. Mayfield cannot be tarred with a single brush, there are some lovely pockets here. But the problems are real and usually only dawn on people once they have actually lived here. One final point: avoid properties close to the train line unless you want the screeching of those coal trains rumbling the foundations of your house in the wee small hours of the night - but this is a problem for any suburb close to the rail infrastructure in Newcastle.

Think hard about Mayfield, but my advice is that it offers a bargain compared with other suburbs, but you simply have to do your research first and be prepared to accept the reality of why it is a cheaper suburb.

The change is happing so fast now you can measure it by the month.

I have been to Mayfield on and off over a ten year period, and I can tell you that Mayfield has been struggling with a fairly poor reputation in Newcastle and the Hunter. There are long-term residents that haven't been to Mayfield for 15 years from other areas because of what Mayfield used to be like. In the long-run, the occupancy of retail spaces has shot up, and the suburb is getting gradually gentrified. Overall, if you are looking for a first home, this is probably a good shot for an affordable house. To me, suburbs more in demand like Hamilton are getting over-valued, and you can't get parking as easily.

The bad points first:
In the past, (as it is now), it's been the 'welfare suburb' of Newcastle, and has a lot of aged care facilities as well as businesses catering to low income earners (pawn shops and so forth). As is often the case with these sorts of areas, you need to be tolerant of a significant minority of, well, odd people.
Around the corner, in Islington on Islington Road was the street notorious for street walkers. I've witnessed also an attempted break-in and a few other incidents that would make you think twice about hanging around or living here. There are dodgy goings on, but compared to the rougher parts of Sydney it's nothing.
there is a fine amount of particulates from the industrial sites to the north in the air. You can't notice at first, but you do notice when you're cleaning up the nooks and crannies in the corners of your rooms.

The positives:
Convenience - Public transport is an easy bus ride to the shopping centres at Charlestown and Kotara, or into town. Waratah station is also a short walk south, or you can go to Hamilton station by car to get to Sydney.
Affordability - Definitely a value for money suburb. If you are on a low income the shops are ideal.
Positive future - Considering what things were like, My call for Mayfields future is a positive one - there is job growth going on which should continue, even if at the moment it's the southern hemispheres biggest KFC.
Community - It's Newcastle and people are generally more informal than Sydneysiders. If you like the small town things you won't mind Mayfield.

Its a great place to live with a big Heart.

When I was looking to move back to Newcastle from years in Sydney with my young family I was looking for an affordable house on a big block with character, within 10km to the city and beaches, plus walking distance to supermarkets and pubs etc. I'd never considered Mayfield before and never really went there in my previous years in Newcastle. However, it has turned out to be a great move despite what pre-conceptions Novocastrians seem to have about the place. We have a great house in a good street with friendly neighbours and I've experienced more problems elsewhere in Newcastle than in Mayfield which has a reputation for being a 'bit rough'. In two years I've noticed more and more young couples - thanks to the First Home Buyers grant - moving into the suburb and lots of renovations and building work going on. Aside from a good Woolworths there are also plans for Coles and Aldi to move in down the road along with other speciality stores. Cafes are also springing up. The Balance Gym run by the Wests Group is also close by and is first class. With petrol prices going up and traffic getting worse, properties in 'cheap' inner-city suburbs like Mayfield, Tighes Hill, Waratah, Wickham and Islington are going to become more sought after. Ask any real estate agent about and they'l say the same thing judging by all the letters we receive in the mail asking if we'd like to sell. I only wish I'd bought back before the last boom!

My partner and I have recently bought our first house in Mayfield - during especially the past 5 years I have seen the suburb progress from being seen as a suburb in which to rent cheaply into an afforable up and coming area for FHO and families. The area is close to the CBD and Waratah shops, has train access and good public transport and is close to the University. House prices in this area continue to rise as people cotton on to the fact that it's not only one of the few afforable suburbs left but that it's actually a great place to live with all the necessary ammenities. This suburb will continue to get better and better.

improving all the time, come and join the new Mayfied.

Mayfield has changed alot over the last 10 years with agreat local history to match, live here and you will soon discover a wonderfull place to start your home life