Aspley vs Manly West

The median house price is $1.3M in Aspley and $1.4M in Manly West, so Aspley is the cheaper entry point.

For units, Aspley sits at a median of $845K against $985K in Manly West, which makes Aspley the more affordable unit market and Manly West the pricier one.

On cash flow, Manly West leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.16%, compared with 3.08% in Aspley, a gap of 0.08 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +12.3% in Aspley and +12.7% in Manly West, so recent momentum favours Manly West, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Aspley houses are +44.0% and Manly West houses +52.5%, so Manly West has compounded faster than Aspley over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.1% in Manly West and 1.2% in Aspley, so landlords in Manly West face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Aspley is the bigger suburb, with a population of 12,871 against 12,436, larger than Manly West; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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