Brisbane City vs Cotton Tree
Property investment comparison - Brisbane City, QLD 4000 vs Cotton Tree, QLD 4558
Head-to-head across core investment metrics: Brisbane City wins 2, Cotton Tree 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 | Brisbane City | Cotton Tree |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1.2M | $1.2M |
| Median unit price | $770K | $975K |
| Gross rental yield (houses) | 3.36% | 3.59% |
| Gross rental yield (units) | 5.00% | 4.16% |
| 1-year house growth | +19.2% | - |
| 3-year house growth | +61.3% | - |
| Vacancy rate | 1.1% | 0.8% |
| Population | 12,587 | 25,797 |
Brisbane City vs Cotton Tree: what the numbers say
The median house price is $1.2M in Brisbane City and $1.2M in Cotton Tree, so Cotton Tree is the cheaper entry point.
For units, Brisbane City sits at a median of $770K against $975K in Cotton Tree, which makes Brisbane City the more affordable unit market and Cotton Tree the pricier one.
On cash flow, Cotton Tree leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.59%, compared with 3.36% in Brisbane City, a gap of 0.23 percentage points.
Rental vacancy is 0.8% in Cotton Tree and 1.1% in Brisbane City, so landlords in Cotton Tree face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.
Cotton Tree is the bigger suburb, with a population of 25,797 against 12,587, roughly 2.0 times the size of Brisbane City; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.
In short: Cotton Tree for rental income, Cotton Tree for a lower purchase price, Cotton Tree for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.
Keep exploring
- National investment guide - top suburbs across every metric
- Take the suburb finder quiz - 5 questions to match your goals
- How our investment score works
- Property investment glossary - every term defined
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