Abbotsbury vs Hillsborough

For units, Abbotsbury sits at a median of $770K against $660K in Hillsborough, which makes Hillsborough the more affordable unit market and Abbotsbury the pricier one.

On cash flow, Hillsborough leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.40%, compared with 2.81% in Abbotsbury, a gap of 0.59 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +10.8% in Abbotsbury and +9.4% in Hillsborough, so recent momentum favours Abbotsbury, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Abbotsbury houses are +22.3% and Hillsborough houses +30.2%, so Hillsborough has compounded faster than Abbotsbury over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 2.7% in Hillsborough and 5.2% in Abbotsbury, so landlords in Hillsborough face less competition for tenants.

Abbotsbury is the bigger suburb, with a population of 4,200 against 641, roughly 7 times the size of Hillsborough; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Hillsborough for rental income, Abbotsbury for recent price momentum, Hillsborough for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.