Box Hill vs South Melbourne
Property investment comparison - Box Hill, VIC 3128 vs South Melbourne, VIC 3205
Head-to-head across core investment metrics: Box Hill wins 1, South Melbourne wins 3. The better choice depends on whether you're optimising for cash flow, growth, affordability, or liquidity, the table below highlights the winner on each metric.
| Metric | Box Hill | South Melbourne |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1.6M | $1.6M |
| Median unit price | - | $600K |
| Gross rental yield (houses) | - | 3.09% |
| Gross rental yield (units) | 5.91% | 5.90% |
| 1-year house growth | -4.7%estimate | +0.4%estimate |
| 3-year house growth | - | - |
| Vacancy rate | 1.8% | 1.2% |
| Population | 14,353 | 11,548 |
Box Hill vs South Melbourne: what the numbers say
The median house price is $1.6M in Box Hill and $1.6M in South Melbourne, so South Melbourne is the cheaper entry point.
Over the past year house prices moved -4.7% in Box Hill (an estimate) and +0.4% in South Melbourne (an estimate), so recent momentum favours South Melbourne, while Box Hill went backwards.
Rental vacancy is 1.2% in South Melbourne and 1.8% in Box Hill, so landlords in South Melbourne face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.
Box Hill is the bigger suburb, with a population of 14,353 against 11,548, larger than South Melbourne; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.
In short: South Melbourne for a lower purchase price, South Melbourne for recent price momentum, South Melbourne for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.
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South Melbourne, VIC 3205
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