Broadbeach Waters vs Sunshine Beach

The median house price is $2.6M in Broadbeach Waters and $2.9M in Sunshine Beach, so Broadbeach Waters is the cheaper entry point, with Sunshine Beach houses about 11% dearer.

For units, Broadbeach Waters sits at a median of $1.1M against $1.3M in Sunshine Beach, which makes Broadbeach Waters the more affordable unit market and Sunshine Beach the pricier one.

On cash flow, Broadbeach Waters leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 3.00%, compared with 2.75% in Sunshine Beach, a gap of 0.25 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +6.8% in Broadbeach Waters (an estimate) and +9.9% in Sunshine Beach (an estimate), so recent momentum favours Sunshine Beach, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Rental vacancy is 0.5% in Sunshine Beach and 3.0% in Broadbeach Waters, so landlords in Sunshine Beach face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Broadbeach Waters is the bigger suburb, with a population of 8,164 against 2,480, roughly 3.3 times the size of Sunshine Beach; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

In short: Broadbeach Waters for rental income, Broadbeach Waters for a lower purchase price, Sunshine Beach for recent price momentum, Sunshine Beach for the tighter rental market. Which matters more depends on whether the investor is buying for cash flow, capital growth or affordability.