Bahrs Scrub vs Cooran

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $995K in Bahrs Scrub and $995K in Cooran.

For units, Bahrs Scrub sits at a median of $890K against $700K in Cooran, which makes Cooran the more affordable unit market and Bahrs Scrub the pricier one.

On cash flow, Bahrs Scrub leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.70%, compared with 3.57% in Cooran, a gap of 0.13 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +19.7% in Bahrs Scrub and +10.0% in Cooran (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Bahrs Scrub, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 1.0% in Bahrs Scrub and 3.3% in Cooran, so landlords in Bahrs Scrub face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Bahrs Scrub is the bigger suburb, with a population of 4,508 against 1,756, roughly 2.6 times the size of Cooran; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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