Bruthen vs Venus Bay

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $490K in Bruthen and $490K in Venus Bay.

For units, Bruthen sits at a median of $465K against $495K in Venus Bay, which makes Bruthen the more affordable unit market and Venus Bay the pricier one.

On cash flow, Bruthen leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 5.84%, compared with 4.33% in Venus Bay, a gap of 1.51 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +6.5% in Bruthen and +0.9% in Venus Bay, so recent momentum favours Bruthen, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Bruthen houses are -5.6% and Venus Bay houses -30.0%, so Bruthen has compounded faster than Venus Bay over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 1.1% in Venus Bay and 1.6% in Bruthen, so landlords in Venus Bay face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Venus Bay is the bigger suburb, with a population of 904 against 820, larger than Bruthen; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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