Alderley vs Willowbank

For units, Alderley sits at a median of $855K against $620K in Willowbank, which makes Willowbank the more affordable unit market and Alderley the pricier one.

On cash flow, Willowbank leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.46%, compared with 2.46% in Alderley, a gap of 1.00 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +12.7% in Alderley and +21.5% in Willowbank, so recent momentum favours Willowbank, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Alderley houses are +35.9% and Willowbank houses +73.8%, so Willowbank has compounded faster than Alderley over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.8% in Willowbank and 1.8% in Alderley, so landlords in Willowbank face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Alderley is the bigger suburb, with a population of 6,748 against 1,351, roughly 5.0 times the size of Willowbank; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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