Bayswater North vs Footscray

The median house price is $925K in Bayswater North and $935K in Footscray, so Bayswater North is the cheaper entry point, with Footscray houses about 1% dearer.

For units, Bayswater North sits at a median of $665K against $470K in Footscray, which makes Footscray the more affordable unit market and Bayswater North the pricier one.

On cash flow, Footscray leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.49%, compared with 3.39% in Bayswater North, a gap of 0.10 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +1.3% in Bayswater North and -0.9% in Footscray, so recent momentum favours Bayswater North, while Footscray went backwards.

Looking back three years, Bayswater North houses are +9.7% and Footscray houses +1.1%, so Bayswater North has compounded faster than Footscray over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.6% in Bayswater North and 1.5% in Footscray, so landlords in Bayswater North face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Footscray is the bigger suburb, with a population of 17,131 against 9,014, larger than Bayswater North; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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