Bushland Beach vs Torquay

Houses cost about the same in both suburbs: the median house price is $780K in Bushland Beach and $780K in Torquay.

On cash flow, Bushland Beach leads: houses there return a gross rental yield of 4.36%, compared with 4.11% in Torquay, a gap of 0.25 percentage points.

Over the past year house prices moved +13.0% in Bushland Beach and +15.0% in Torquay, so recent momentum favours Torquay, although both suburbs recorded growth.

Looking back three years, Bushland Beach houses are +61.5% and Torquay houses +34.0%, so Bushland Beach has compounded faster than Torquay over the longer window.

Rental vacancy is 2.0% in Torquay and 3.6% in Bushland Beach, so landlords in Torquay face less competition for tenants. Anything under 2% is generally read as a tight market where tenants compete for homes.

Bushland Beach is the bigger suburb, with a population of 6,641 against 6,533, larger than Torquay; a larger suburb usually means a deeper pool of buyers and tenants.

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