Boambee East vs Shortland

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $840K in Boambee East and $840K in Shortland.

For units, Boambee East sits at a median of $625K against $720K in Shortland, which makes Boambee East the more affordable unit market and Shortland the pricier one.

On cash flow, Boambee East leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.30%, compared with 3.99% in Shortland, a gap of 0.31 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +9.1% in Boambee East and +11.2% in Shortland, so recent momentum favours Shortland, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Boambee East houses are +14.8% and Shortland houses +23.9%, so Shortland has compounded faster than Boambee East over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.1% in Shortland and 1.3% in Boambee East, so landlords in Shortland face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Boambee East is the bigger suburb, with a population of 5,304 against 4,537, larger than Shortland; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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