Airlie Beach vs Brighton
Property investment comparison - Airlie Beach, QLD 4802 vs Brighton, QLD 4017
Head-to-head across core investment metrics: Airlie Beach wins 3, Brighton wins 1. The better choice depends on whether you're optimising for cash flow, growth, affordability, or liquidity, the table below highlights the winner on each metric.
| Metric | Airlie Beach | Brighton |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1.3M | $1.3M |
| Median unit price | $665K | - |
| Gross rental yield (houses) | 4.75% | 3.10% |
| Gross rental yield (units) | 4.60% | 3.24% |
| 1-year house growth | - | +15.5%estimate |
| 3-year house growth | - | - |
| Vacancy rate | 0.6% | 1.2% |
| Population | 1,312 | 9,664 |
Airlie Beach vs Brighton: what the numbers say
The median house price is $1.3M in Airlie Beach and $1.3M in Brighton, so Brighton is the cheaper entry point.
On cash flow, Airlie Beach leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.75%, compared with 3.10% in Brighton, a gap of 1.65 percentage points.
Rental vacancy is 0.6% in Airlie Beach and 1.2% in Brighton, so landlords in Airlie Beach face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.
Brighton is the bigger suburb, with a population of 9,664 against 1,312, roughly 7 times the size of Airlie Beach; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.
In short: Airlie Beach for rental income, Brighton for a lower purchase price, Airlie Beach for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.
Keep exploring
- National investment guide - top suburbs across every metric
- Take the suburb finder quiz - 5 questions to match your goals
- How our investment score works
- Property investment glossary - every term defined
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