Albany Creek vs Shelly Beach
Property investment comparison - Albany Creek, QLD 4035 vs Shelly Beach, QLD 4551
Head-to-head across core investment metrics: Albany Creek wins 3, Shelly Beach 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 | Albany Creek | Shelly Beach |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1.3M | - |
| Median unit price | $920K | - |
| Gross rental yield (houses) | 3.13% | 1.88% |
| Gross rental yield (units) | 4.00% | - |
| 1-year house growth | +17.7% | +16.0% |
| 3-year house growth | +49.1% | +35.3% |
| Vacancy rate | 1.5% | 0.9% |
| Population | 16,385 | 925 |
Albany Creek vs Shelly Beach: what the numbers say
On cash flow, Albany Creek leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.13%, compared with 1.88% in Shelly Beach, a gap of 1.25 percentage points.
Over the past year house prices moved +17.7% in Albany Creek and +16.0% in Shelly Beach, so recent momentum favours Albany Creek, although both suburbs recorded growth.
Looking back three years, Albany Creek houses are +49.1% and Shelly Beach houses +35.3%, so Albany Creek has compounded faster than Shelly Beach over the longer window.
Rental vacancy is 0.9% in Shelly Beach and 1.5% in Albany Creek, so landlords in Shelly Beach 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 925, roughly 18 times the size of Shelly Beach; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.
In short: Albany Creek for rental income, Albany Creek for recent price momentum, Shelly 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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