Bundaberg East vs Garbutt

The median house price is $590K in Bundaberg East and $595K in Garbutt, so Bundaberg East is the cheaper entry point, with Garbutt houses about 1% dearer.

On cash flow, Bundaberg East leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 5.00%, compared with 4.90% in Garbutt, a gap of 0.10 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +12.0% in Bundaberg East and +17.9% in Garbutt, so recent momentum favours Garbutt, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Bundaberg East houses are +56.1% and Garbutt houses +82.8%, so Garbutt has compounded faster than Bundaberg East over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 0.1% in Garbutt and 0.6% in Bundaberg East, so landlords in Garbutt face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Bundaberg East is the bigger suburb, with a population of 2,839 against 2,309, larger than Garbutt; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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