Bauple vs South Mackay

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $650K in Bauple and $650K in South Mackay.

For units, Bauple sits at a median of $425K against $445K in South Mackay, which makes Bauple the more affordable unit market and South Mackay the pricier one.

On cash flow, South Mackay leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 5.49%, compared with 4.06% in Bauple, a gap of 1.43 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +12.8% in Bauple and +18.2% in South Mackay, so recent momentum favours South Mackay, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Bauple houses are +50.8% and South Mackay houses +62.0%, so South Mackay has compounded faster than Bauple over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.0% in Bauple and 1.1% in South Mackay, so landlords in Bauple face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

South Mackay is the bigger suburb, with a population of 6,918 against 745, roughly 9 times the size of Bauple; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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