Athelstone vs Upper Sturt
Property investment comparison - Athelstone, SA 5076 vs Upper Sturt, SA 5156
Head-to-head across core investment metrics: Athelstone wins 2, Upper Sturt 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 | Athelstone | Upper Sturt |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1.1M | - |
| Median unit price | $630K | $450K |
| Gross rental yield (houses) | 3.30% | 3.05% |
| Gross rental yield (units) | - | 5.60% |
| 1-year house growth | +14.1% | - |
| 3-year house growth | +41.1% | - |
| Vacancy rate | 0.5% | 3.9% |
| Population | 9,601 | 1,005 |
Athelstone vs Upper Sturt: what the numbers say
For units, Athelstone sits at a median of $630K against $450K in Upper Sturt, which makes Upper Sturt the more affordable unit market and Athelstone the pricier one.
On cash flow, Athelstone leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.30%, compared with 3.05% in Upper Sturt, a gap of 0.25 percentage points.
Rental vacancy is 0.5% in Athelstone and 3.9% in Upper Sturt, so landlords in Athelstone face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.
Athelstone is the bigger suburb, with a population of 9,601 against 1,005, roughly 10 times the size of Upper Sturt; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.
In short: Athelstone for rental income, Athelstone 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
Compare any 2-4 Australian suburbs
Build your own multi-suburb comparison with the full interactive tool.
Open interactive comparison