Town guide
Scotts Head
Scotts Head beach, looking north from the headland. Photo: Conquimbo, CC BY-SA 3.0
The village on the headland south of the Nambucca River mouth: the smallest of the valley's five towns, the best-off on the Census, and the one most given over to holiday houses.
What homes cost
Scotts Head shares postcode 2447 with Macksville, so the government's price figures cover both: a river town and a beach village.
Postcode 2447 · Macksville, Scotts Head
$790,000
Median sale price, January to March 2026 (35 sales)
- Non-strata homes (mostly houses)
- $790,000
- Median rent, new leases
- $570 a week
- Houses
- $578 a week
NSW Rent and Sales Report: sales January to March 2026 (NSW Valuer General data), rents April to June 2026 (new bonds).
That mix matters. A beachside house at Scotts Head and a house in Macksville sit in the same median, so treat the figure as a floor for the village rather than its price, and check recent sales street by street.
Five years of prices
The numbers
| Postcode 2447 | Valley | |
|---|---|---|
| March quarter 2021 | $480,000 | $500,000 |
| March quarter 2022 | $745,000 | $678,000 |
| March quarter 2023 | $650,000 | $570,000 |
| March quarter 2024 | $620,000 | $600,000 |
| March quarter 2025 | $770,000 | $740,000 |
| March quarter 2026 | $790,000 | $725,000 |
Who lives here
| 2021 Census | Scotts Head | NSW |
|---|---|---|
| People | 986 | |
| Median age | 54 | 39 |
| Aged 65 or over | 29% | |
| Private dwellings | 629 | |
| Homes owned outright | 56.5% | 31.5% |
| Homes with a mortgage | 22.8% | 32.5% |
| Homes rented | 17.5% | 32.6% |
| Median weekly household income | $1,212 | $1,829 |
| Median weekly rent (2021) | $330 | $420 |
| Empty on Census night | 26.0% | 9.4% |
ABS 2021 Census QuickStats, Scotts Head. The 2026 Census results are due from June 2027.
Scotts Head had the highest median household income of the five towns in 2021, $1,212 a week, and more than half of its homes were owned outright. On Census night 26 per cent of its private dwellings were empty, almost three times the state rate, which most likely reflects how many are holiday houses.
Good for
- A beach home or a future sea change: a small village on a headland, with a surf beach
- Owner-occupiers: only about one home in six is rented
Worth knowing
- Quiet out of season: a quarter of homes were empty on Census night
- Few rentals, and the drive to Coffs Harbour is about 70 km
- Shops and services are mostly in Macksville and Nambucca Heads
What is changing
Nambucca Valley Council is preparing a Scotts Head Master Plan for the village's public spaces and foreshores. Two rounds of community consultation ran from May to July 2026, and the draft plan is expected to go to the council's 28 October 2026 meeting, with public exhibition likely in October and November 2026.
The beach
Scotts Head Surf Life Saving Club patrols the beach on weekends in the summer season, and the council has paid professional lifeguards to patrol over the Christmas school holidays. Our beaches guide covers the valley's coast.
The other towns
Common questions
What do homes cost at Scotts Head?
The government publishes prices for postcode 2447, which Scotts Head shares with Macksville: a median of $790,000 from January to March 2026, from 35 sales. Beachside homes in the village usually sell above that shared median.
Is Scotts Head a holiday town?
Largely. At the 2021 Census, 26 per cent of its private dwellings were empty on Census night, against 9.4 per cent across NSW.
How far is Scotts Head from Coffs Harbour?
About 70 km by road, a drive of just under an hour.
Sources
- NSW Department of Communities and Justice, Rent and Sales Report (postcode 2447: sales Jan to Mar 2021 to 2026, rents Apr to Jun 2026)
- ABS, 2021 Census QuickStats, Scotts Head (SAL13523)
- Nambucca Valley Council, Scotts Head Masterplan
- Nambucca Valley Council, Beach Access and Services (surf life saving)