Altona vs Inverleigh

The median house price is $1.2M in Altona and $1.2M in Inverleigh, so Inverleigh is the cheaper entry point, with Altona houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Altona sits at a median of $725K against $675K in Inverleigh, which makes Inverleigh the more affordable unit market and Altona the pricier one.

On cash flow, Altona leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.12%, compared with 2.05% in Inverleigh, a gap of 1.07 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +1.3% in Altona (an estimate) and +6.3% in Inverleigh, so recent momentum favours Inverleigh, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 1.7% in Inverleigh and 1.8% in Altona, so landlords in Inverleigh face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Altona is the bigger suburb, with a population of 11,490 against 1,746, roughly 7 times the size of Inverleigh; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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