Albany Creek vs Mackay
Property investment comparison - Albany Creek, QLD 4035 vs Mackay, QLD 4740
Head-to-head across core investment metrics: Albany Creek wins 2, Mackay wins 3. 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 | Albany Creek | Mackay |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1.3M | - |
| Median unit price | $920K | - |
| Gross rental yield (houses) | 3.13% | 4.49% |
| Gross rental yield (units) | 4.00% | 6.30% |
| 1-year house growth | +17.7% | +17.0% |
| 3-year house growth | +49.1% | +45.7% |
| Vacancy rate | 1.5% | 0.4% |
| Population | 16,385 | 4,026 |
Albany Creek vs Mackay: what the numbers say
On cash flow, Mackay leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.49%, compared with 3.13% in Albany Creek, a gap of 1.36 percentage points.
Over the past year house prices moved +17.7% in Albany Creek and +17.0% in Mackay, so recent momentum favours Albany Creek, although both suburbs recorded growth.
Looking back three years, Albany Creek houses are +49.1% and Mackay houses +45.7%, so Albany Creek has compounded faster than Mackay over the longer window.
Rental vacancy is 0.4% in Mackay and 1.5% in Albany Creek, so landlords in Mackay face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.
Albany Creek is the bigger suburb, with a population of 16,385 against 4,026, roughly 4.1 times the size of Mackay; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.
In short: Mackay for rental income, Albany Creek for recent price momentum, Mackay 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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