Bonnie Brook vs Murrabit

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $685K in Bonnie Brook and $685K in Murrabit.

For units, Bonnie Brook sits at a median of $580K against $395K in Murrabit, which makes Murrabit the more affordable unit market and Bonnie Brook the pricier one.

On cash flow, Bonnie Brook leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.10%, compared with 2.99% in Murrabit, a gap of 1.11 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +2.8% in Bonnie Brook and +22.7% in Murrabit, so recent momentum favours Murrabit, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.6% in Murrabit and 5.3% in Bonnie Brook, so landlords in Murrabit face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Bonnie Brook is the bigger suburb, with a population of 333 against 230, larger than Murrabit; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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