Booker Bay vs Hamilton South

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $1.6M in Booker Bay and $1.6M in Hamilton South.

On cash flow, Hamilton South leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 2.81%, compared with 2.47% in Booker Bay, a gap of 0.34 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +9.3% in Booker Bay and +4.2% in Hamilton South, so recent momentum favours Booker Bay, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Booker Bay houses are +12.6% and Hamilton South houses -8.3%, so Booker Bay has compounded faster than Hamilton South over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.3% in Booker Bay and 0.5% in Hamilton South, so landlords in Booker Bay face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Hamilton South is the bigger suburb, with a population of 4,057 against 1,442, roughly 2.8 times the size of Booker Bay; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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